The problem: Establish Nordstrom.com as a fashion authority and sell product at the same time—which often meant reconciling opposing directions from the buying team and the trend-spotting team.
The solution: Tell coherent trend stories about new product using as many channels as possible—particularly emails, site placements (headers, lookbooks, microsites, etc.) and social media.
My role: I collaborated with site merchandisers, marketing managers, web designers, fashion directors and project managers to write hundreds (and hundreds) of emails, campaigns and ads each year. Although I worked across all divisions, my special focus was kids, teens and men.
Nordstrom Rewards
The problem: Explain the updated loyalty program to potential new customers as part of a massive acquisition campaign—without boring people to death.
The solution: Create an engaging, informative video to not only drive awareness, but also generate excitement about the program.
My role: I worked with the Rewards marketing team, two legal teams (!) and the videographers to hit all the salient points of the program in less than a minute, using icons and images to supplement snappy, to-the-point copy. (Apple Computer released a strikingly similar video eight months later.)
The Men's Shop How-To Series
The problem: Boost SEO for the Nordstrom.com site and establish the men's department as a friendly, trustworthy authority for all men's fashion needs.
The solution: Use the magical phrase "how to" in a series of videos showing men how to wear a tie, dress for a job interview, select the correct dress shirt and accessorize year-round.
My role: I collaborated with the director of men's fashion, our lead stylist and our video team to concept and execute useful, simple videos that would both satisfy our business goals and deliver a good experience for the viewer.
How long should your tie be? How wide? Where do you clip the tie bar? These questions and more are answered here.
The problem: Attract, engage and retain young customers in the new landscape of organic, authentic interaction between brand and consumer. With no budget. And minimal resources.
The solution: Recruit bloggers from Nordstrom's nationwide Fashion Board, a teen-only fashion club run through every juniors department in every store, to showcase Nordstrom merchandise, provide an authentic point of view and engage our target market.
My role: Select and train each year's team of 3-4 bloggers, create and maintain the content calendar, edit and publish posts in WordPress, mentor the bloggers and work closely with marketing and PR to ensure that our content was on brand and aligned with corporate initiatives. This was a volunteer position, carried out in addition to my regular duties.
Our bloggers posted original content six days a week for an entire year. No small feat for busy high-school juniors and seniors.
The numbers: We drove nearly $1m in demand for the 2014-2015 year.
The blog still exists in the Nordstrom archives. Feel free to check it out for yourself.
The problem: Acquire and inspire new customers, establish Nordstrom as a culturally relevant brand, create a content-rich experience to boost SEO and hopefully drive repeat visits to the site.
The solution: Create a microsite showcasing the creatives currently on our radar, from up-and-coming filmmakers like Tell No One and Cyrcle to cutting-edge artists like Snarkitecture and Shan Jiang.
Each artist created a piece for Nordstrom, which we used to promote new spring merchandise. We then profiled each artist on the microsite. Each profile contained videos, images and an interview with the artist, and then drove to the divisional campaign that featured the artist's work.
My role: I collected and organized all the collateral—interview transcripts, video, campaign copy, etc.—then edited each profile page into a coherent piece that worked harmoniously with all the other profiles. I also wrote the introduction for each artist, and all the promotional pieces for this campaign (ads, site placements and emails).
My favorite part of this whole experience was getting to interview the maverick, madcap old architect Ken Kellogg, a giant in the organic architecture movement and a true delight to talk to.
The problem: When kate spade new york partnered with celebrity stylist Brad Goreski for their spring 2014 collection, it was kind of a big deal. And it was an even bigger deal for Nordstrom when they approached us to promote the collaboration.
The solution: A blowout campaign that included exclusive videos, a lookbook and a content hub featuring styling tips and fun quotes from Brad.
My role: I worked with the lead designer, the videographer and the creative director to organize and edit the metric tons of content generated during a photoshoot with Brad. I combed the interview transcripts for styling tips, personal color and great pull quotes to use throughout the experience, then I wrote all the promotional materials.
The problem: Partner with Nike to deliver a fashion-forward shop-in-shop for men, with a mix of designer product and street-style elements.
This shop was the counterpart to a similar, separately branded women’s experience that had 80% more budget. Our mandate was to create a unique brand identity that was clearly affiliated with the women’s experience without directly referencing it.
The solution: In-store pads in two doors, plus an editorial feature page that posted monthly updates with assets from quarterly shoots (as opposed to the women’s monthly shoot schedule). We promoted the project with marketing emails, app push notifications and Instagram posts.
My role: I named the project and wrote all copy for all deliverables. I partnered with the art director, stylist and Fashion Office director to ensure that I called out the right trends with the right product at the right time.
Other high-touch vendors I have written for: Christian Louboutin, M·A·C, Gucci and Topshop/Topman.
