During my time at Innovate Marquette SmartZone, a non-profit economic development organization dedicated to helping elevate tech start-ups, innovation, and entrepreneurship in rural Michigan, I was promoted from Marketing Manager to Director of Marketing & Communications. This was very much in part of the conceptualization, creative direction, and success of our Make it Marquette Initiative.  This initiative was a full brand creation project that I approached in three parts:

1. Research & Conceptulatize - I began to research similar talent attraction initiatives across the United States, set up meetings with their leaders, and organized a community roundtable made of key stakeholders to better understand our community’s SWOT analysis. Through this research and hours of conceptualization, the brand narrative was born.

2. Create & Implement - acted as creative director and editor-in-chief to assemble a team of talented individuals to help design, copywrite, and build brand assets such as a brand style guide, website, and other owned assets.

3. Launch & Sustain - developed partnerships, media, and stakeholder relationships to launch and sustain brand authority.

Below, you’ll find six specific projects within this initiative I’m especially proud of. Note that we did not have a paid media budget, within one year this initiative had over 300 organic Youtube Subscribers, 3000 organic website visitors per month, and almost 2000 Instagram followers.