Experience

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  B9

  • Senior Copywriter

    • Mar 2023 - Present

    B9 is a fintech that offers an alternative to the traditional cash advance. They offer perks like interest-free advances on your paycheck up to 15 days early plus up to 5% cashback on purchases (to name just a few). I was brought in to shore up their copy for email, social, and customer response (I also revised their new website but it has yet to launch). Since my degree is in design I was also asked to weigh in on their visual messaging. In my one year there I not only doubled their user engagement and activation metrics but also helped grow their membership from a few hundred thousand to well over half a million.

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  Belkin International

  • Greater Los Angeles Area

  • Creative Director

    • Aug 2019 - Jul 2020
    • Greater Los Angeles Area

    Belkin International, Creative Director, Global Innovation GroupBelkin International, made up of four brands—Belkin, Linksys, Wemo, and Playa—is a consumer electronics powerhouse that's been changing lives since PCs became a thing. It continues to be a leader in tech accessories, wireless connections, and smart home electronics (SHE). I was brought on as the company's creative director, charged with honoring their legacy while imagining their future. In my brief, pandemic-impacted time there I managed to launch an audio category with a never-been-done-before product (SoundForm Elite) that ended up in this year’s Rolling Stone magazine’s top 10 Father’s Day Gift Guide, and helped the company achieve its most successful social campaign ever—a blending of three of its brands into a single voice with its “Do More from Home” campaign. On top of that, Linksys sell-through at retail this year is up 22% YTD.

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  Midnight Oil

  • Burbank, California

  • Creative Director, Technology

    • Feb 2017 - Aug 2019
    • Burbank, California

    Midnight Oil is a full service, award-winning ad agency with clients such as Microsoft, Lenovo, Square, SoftBank Robotics, Activision, EA, Disney, and Netflix.I was brought on as the CD for the SoftBank Robotics account (part of the SoftBank Group), a high tech robotics, AI, Internet, and mobile technology firm ranked by Boston Consulting Group as one of the 50 most innovative companies on the planet with investments in some of the world's hottest tech startups such as Alibaba, Uber, and NVIDIA. My chief responsibility was to help launch their robotics division—via Pepper the Robot—into the North American market. With close to five billion impressions, 150K engagements, and over 100K mentions in the past year alone, Pepper has gone from an unknown entity in the US to now being inextricably linked to the topic of humanoid robotics itself. I'm currently the CD in charge of all tech clients including Microsoft, Lenovo, and Square which launched its first-ever endcap at Best Buy this spring. Square's sales at Sam's Club have surpassed expectations, leading to a re-order and restocking of product within the first few months.

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  Dent Advertising Agency

  • Santa Monica, California

  • Creative Director

    • Jan 2016 - Feb 2017
    • Santa Monica, California

    Dent Advertising oversees Japan’s Glico USA account. Glico sells over 200 million boxes annually of their popular Pocky treats in over 30 foreign countries and is the number one Japanese snack in the U.S. I was brought in as Creative Director to help the agency migrate Pocky out of the Asian food sections of major US retail chains and into the chains’ domestic snack aisles. I’m also consulting on the agency’s PR initiative, called the Share Happiness Tour in which Pocky Trucks tour the country, giving away free snacks. So far, over 1.2 million boxes have been handed out (over 35 million sticks of Pocky), resulting in dramatic sales growth.

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  TrueCar, Inc.

  • Santa Monica, California

  • Creative Director

    • Apr 2015 - Nov 2015
    • Santa Monica, California

    TrueCar offers up a hassle-free car buying experience, helping move over 63 thousand cars a month to the over 6 million customers who use their platform. I was brought on as Creative Director to help the company strengthen their voice and hone their messaging to consumers, partners, and dealers across all platforms. I also worked with the major auto manufacturers to help them message their brands more effectively within TrueCar’s numerous channels. While I was there TrueCar saw a 28% increase in sales from the previous year to a record $72.4 million with a best-ever transaction revenue of $67.4 million, up 30% YOY.

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  Razorfish

  • El Segundo, California

  • Creative Director

    • Jul 2011 - Apr 2015
    • El Segundo, California

    Razorfish LA, part of the Publicis Groupe, was named one of AdAge's top 10 agencies of 2015 and was the #2 agency in the world for customer engagement. I reported directly to the Head of Global Communications. My purview included the Loyalty and Retention (L&R) and Digital Retail accounts for Samsung Mobile, USA. I was responsible for directing Content Strategy, Partnerships, Technology, Retail, POS digital, and Email advertising. Under my direction Samsung's email advertising engagement rate (CTOR) grew to more than twice the industry average (Silverpop Benchmark Study), database registrations grew from 2.5M to 28.5M, and retail engagement sessions with their in-store app went from four million to well over 50M.

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  Tor/Forge Books

  • Greater New York City Area

  • Author

    • Aug 2008 - Aug 2013
    • Greater New York City Area

    Tor is the #1 Publisher of science fiction in the world. I was signed to a four book deal (I write collaboratively with my brother). The first novel went on to win the Prometheus Award for best science fiction novel of the year and the entire series – which was recently translated into Chinese – has sold over 65K copies to date.

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  JFED Communications

  • Los Angeles

  • Senior Copywriter

    • Dec 2010 - Jul 2012
    • Los Angeles

    Helped to create and write advertisements, direct mail collateral, landing pages, and CRM copy for numerous non-profit organizations under the aegis of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. In my almost two years there, JFED managed to raise $65M helping to ensure that thousands of families in need got the support and care they required.

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  Spin Master Ltd. (Contract)

  • Culver City

  • Copywriter (Contract)

    • 2008 - 2011
    • Culver City

    My dual-expertise as a seasoned toy creative and science fiction author represents the best of both worlds for Spin Master: toy industry familiarity and proven world-building chops. For example I worked on packaging, online, and name development for Redakai – the company’s first foray into the collectible trading card category. Spin Master also developed an animated series based on the card’s characters that premiered on Cartoon Network in July 2011. As a result of the growing success and popularity of the game, the series became a smash hit, rating as a top 10 show among boys 6-14 and reaching an audience of 15.3 million kids (Nielsen Media Research). Today, Redakai is one of the most popular games on the market. Redakai was also a 2012 TOTY finalist for property of the year. Another Spin Master product I both named and wrote for — Micro R/C Terrain Titans — was the third bestselling R/C toy in its category in 2009 (Toy & Review News trade magazine)

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  Frontline Communications

  • Century City

  • Copywriter (Contract)

    • 2010 - 2010
    • Century City

    Frontline Communications had a single client—Boeing. They needed a copywriter who’d be comfortable with the tech specs and military jargon necessary to communicate with a very specific demographic: The U.S. congress, members of the Defense Department, and high-ranking military officers both domestically and internationally. As an experienced copywriter, a seasoned author of military SciFi, and the son of a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, I fit the bill. I helped the agency pitch (and win) the Boeing television account, and the two other projects I worked on, Logistics Systems and Non-Boeing Platforms, helped Boeing secure orders in excess of $1B.

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  Herbalife

  • Copywriter (Contract)

    • 2008 - 2010

    I helped Herbalife generate names for products, created online and print advertising, oversaw scriptwriting for videos, and style guides for in-house and international use. I worked primarily on the weight management product portfolio, which includes meal replacement shakes, weight-loss enhancers, appetite suppressors and a variety of healthy snacks. The weight management portfolio accounted for 63% of net sales of approximately $2.3 billion for the 2009 fiscal year.

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  Mattel

  • Senior Copywriter

    • 2004 - 2008

    Shellshocker, a Tyco RC product I named and created the packaging for, won the 2006 TOTY award (the equivalent of the Toy Oscars) for best boy toy of the year, and it became the #1 selling RC toy for Mattel two years running. Two other R/C vehicles I was responsible for were amongst the top ten selling toys of 2009. Mattel then moved me over to Matchbox, their fastest growing brand. While I was there, Matchbox’s revenue doubled to almost $100 million.

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  Rick Colby & Partners

  • Greater Los Angeles Area

  • Senior Copywriter (Contract)

    • 2003 - 2004
    • Greater Los Angeles Area

    Continued my work on Bandai’s three flagship characters, Power Rangers, Digimon and Gundam.

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  Foote, Cone & Belding

  • Greater Los Angeles Area

  • Senior Copywriter (Contract)

    • Jul 2002 - Jan 2003
    • Greater Los Angeles Area

    During my tenure at FCB, worldwide gross sales in the Boys-Entertainment category increased by 7% due to growth in Matchbox products and increased international sales of Hot Wheels and Tyco R/C Radio Control brands. The increase also reflected strong sales from licensed properties such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – a line I was called on to rewrite from the bottom up, as the original commercials had tested poorly.

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  J.Walter Thompson

  • Greater Los Angeles Area

  • Copywriter (Contract)

    • 2002 - 2003
    • Greater Los Angeles Area

    The U.S. market accounted for approximately 20% of net sales of which Bandai’s three flagship characters (two of which I worked on) Power Rangers, Digimon and Gundam constituted the majority. Additionally, in 2003 JWT’s $1.2 million advertising campaign helped Gundam capture 29% of its market, handily beating Bandai's $20 million sales goal by several million dollars. JWT won an Effie award for advertising effectiveness.