Brand Strategy Artifacts

Select examples from my work positioning brands for growth.

Jack Daniel’s: Building Brand Affinity Among Latinos

Jack Daniel's needed to recruit new drinkers in the U.S. Hispanic Market. My role was to create the strategy that would tap into the ambicultural whiskey-drinking audience and prompt them to switch to Jack. The resulting campaign, Haz Lo Que Nunca, was so successful, it was translated into English and aired in global markets. More importantly, it struck an authentic chord with Latinos and reinvigorated one of the oldest bourbon's in the USA. 

Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau: Selling More Nights in Austin Hotels

The ACVB wanted to attract travelers to Austin and Austin hotels. My role was to develop the brand strategy and inspire a creative ad campaign. Through my research, I identified Curious Urban “Bleisure Travelers” as the brand’s target audience. However, they’d already been to Austin. Yet, they didn’t know the city was changing more rapidly than anywhere else in the USA. It was evolving so fast, they couldn't expect to come back to see the same thing twice. This insight birthed the idea behind ACVB’s new campaign: Austin Means Unfinished Business.

Stripes Convenience Stores: Building the “Helpful Neighbor” Brand Identity

Stripes Convenience Stores were rapidly growing their retail footprint, but lacked a cohesive brand identity before they hired LatinWorks in 2012. To unite the franchises and ignite customer loyalty, my team went into Stripes key markets in West and South Texas to understand brand perceptions. From customers and employees, we learned what people love about Stripes goes far beyond convenience. Stripes really cares about helping the neighbors in their communities. This positioning—which directly contrasted with the convenience positioning of threats like 7-11—led Stripes to market with its strengths, hold its ground, and continue scaling its business.

NPR: Reaching New Listeners

As an intern in the NPR creative services department, I volunteered to write a creative brief for a campaign that would strengthen existing listenership and invite new listeners to tune in. Based on the finding that NPR listeners are more curious than other listener types, my idea was to create a campaign around what makes NPR unique vs the competition: it’s the difference between getting a headline and getting a story.

Shiner Bock: Strengthening Loyalty Among Austin Beer Drinkers

Shiner Beer was looking to reinvigorate sales and affinity for its flagship brew, Shiner Bock, in the Austin market. My role was to mine for insights and understand the perceptions of Shiner Bock with drinkers. Through intercepts and surveys, I discovered that Austin beer drinkers—regardless of age, income, or status—all respect Shiner Bock because of the Texas pride it represents. This insight resulted in the Bock Love campaign, which celebrated Texas, and boosted sales and preference for Shiner Bock. 

Walgreens: From Last-Minute Gifts to Preferred Holiday Destination

Walgreens wanted to change its perception as a last resort for holiday gifting. Although the retailer promised an assortment of small gifts, it had to communicate—early and often—why someone should proactively choose Walgreens. Based on the finding that the target consumer LOVED buying little gifts for the many “someones” in her life - and their "just dropped in" plus ones - the Holiday Mini Miracle campaign was born. It was my job to bring her to life for clients and creative teams, and inspire work that would change people's minds about Walgreens.

Chevrolet: Selling Silverado to Hispanic Truck Buyers

(Austin Addy Winner, Silver - Film)

Chevrolet needed to get Latino truck buyers thinking about Silverado. What was known about the Silverado Man—regardless of ethnicity—was that he was values-driven: hard work, family first, integrity always. Focus groups revealed the Hispanic consumer felt a particular soft spot for his children—he wore his heart on his sleeve for them and it was the toughest job he had. Chevy Silverado was built tough too—not just for 9-5 but for the 5-9 job too. The award-winning “Daughter’s Band” Spanish-language TV spot aired in multiple languages.

Avocados from Mexico: Sparking Conversation at Super Bowl LI

In 2017, Avocados from Mexico wanted to create a Super Bowl spot to get people talking about their product as the healthy snack. My role was to help strategize ways to overcome this challenge: people don’t want to think “healthy” when they're pigging out on the Super Bowl Sunday spread. The resulting ad delivered; one month after Super Bowl LI, Avocados from Mexico was described by Ad Age as the big advertising winner as measured by social media impressions and purchase consideration.

Jack Daniel's: The Los Angeles Market Brand Study

In 2014, I spearheaded the writing of The Unexpected Underdog: A Jack Daniel's Story of Los Angeles. This narrative chronicled the trip my to Los Angeles—meeting locals and understanding market barriers and opportunities. Perhaps the most interesting finding is in the book's title; although Jack Daniel's was a well-known player in the whiskey space, its mainstream appeal was a disadvantage in LA, where people like trying small batch and hand-crafted spirits—if only to brag about their novel discoveries. The story for overcoming this market challenge was detailed in a published playbook.