I led Brand Story and Content Strategy at Sleep Number. As a luxury retail brand and wellness company, my team has a commitment to results-driven branded content and high-performing media. In the last year, I have built our company’s first dedicated brand story team; created over 200 episodes of digital content, helped scale our content programs with our NFL partners; innovated a creative and integrated content strategy that led to over half a billion measured engagements; developed creative plans for our full-funnel marketing launches for new product innovations; and been part of the creative team re-designing our online customer e-commerce experience, while we continued to scale Sleep Number’s connected health and sleep science leadership message. PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW AND ENJOY!

Challenge:

After 35 years, Diet Coke, an iconic brand and the #1 selling zero calorie beverage, began a new era with an updated look, sleek new packaging, and four new Diet Coke flavors. Coca Cola was faced with a challenge.  How do you drive young millennials to Walmart to purchase single servings of Diet Coke and try the bold new flavors?  

Solution: 

We worked with the Diet Coke team at Walmart and Saatchi & Saatchi X to ‘Take a Break From The Ordinary’ to produce and distribute attention-grabbing, colorful content featuring country star Lauren Alaina.

Campaign In Action:

Produced attention grabbing videos with Lauren Alaina, the reigning Academy of Country Music New Female Vocalist of the Year.

• Provided branded content in the format millennials pay attention to, like Instagram stories, Boomerangs, carousel ads, and story-telling moments

• Provided a dedicated and optimized landing page with fun and colorful content that mirrors the sleek new look of Diet Coke showing Lauren Alaina’s personality.

• Organic and Paid strategy on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

• Native Stories were created and published on popular country music websites.

• Doubled down on what fans react to and then optimizes it across multiple social platforms.

• We provided content for artists to share on their social channels and we partnered with leading publishers who cover the country music lifestyle to expand the reach.

“Through artists, we can speak directly to our key shopper, drive traffic to Walmart, and inspire trial of the new flavor-filled lineup of Diet Coke.”  

Amanda Whitaker, Director of Shopper Marketing at Coca-Cola

Headline:

“Taillight helps drive Coca-Cola Sales at Walmart

Coca-Cola is seeing sales at Walmart increase from the power of country music through engaging artist content.”

Challenge:

Coca-Cola wanted to build off the marketing success of their Share a Coke campaign to drive millennials to buy more single-serve beverages from a mass retailer like Walmart, rather than the convenience stores where they usually pick them up.  But what kind of content would best reach shoppers on social media?

Solution: 

Building off positive data that found millennial country audiences were engaged Walmart shoppers, we created a two-year, multi-channel campaign featuring 20 of their favorite country artists. By showcasing those artists on social media, they built an affinity for Walmart, which increased store traffic and drove sales. And of course, the content was delivered where millennials spend their time—on social media!

Boomerangs, Instagram stories, Snapchat content and more.

Campaign in action:

• Exclusive 360-degree acoustic performance by breakout artist Kelsea Ballerini of her Number One smash Peter Pan. The only way to access the video was to visit Walmart and scan a first-of-its-kind display filled with 20-ounce Coca-Cola products.  

• Targeted social media ads that pushed content from Coke’s Share a Coke and Song campaign. The content featured over 20 country artists sharing stories about their favorite song lyrics- the same ones found on Coke bottles. Fans were asked to do the same with the hashtag #togethermusic.

• Snackable videos for social from a private tailgate where Jake Owen shared game day tailgate stories featuring Coca-Cola, Coke Zero and Powerade.

• Behind the scenes access to Lauren Alaina’s music video and workout routine. Lauren talked about staying hydrated with Dasani from Walmart.  

• Charitable Campaign Promotion with content featuring Lauren Alaina, Cassadee Pope and American Idol’s Craig Wayne Boyd.  These artists asked fans to support Coca-Cola’s Layer On Love campaign by donating $5 via text message.

Benefits:

Coca-Cola at Walmart's relationship was a multi-year commitment for Taillight. We closely managed these artist-driven campaigns. We secured the talent, directed, and produced the content. We engineered the strategy that drove engagement. We doubled down on what fans reacted to and optimized across multiple social platforms. Artists shared the content on their socials and we partnered with leading publishers who cover the country music lifestyle to expand the reach.

Results:

• 1.8% Sales Lift for Coca Cola products at Walmart during the program.

• 122 MILLON Impressions

• 153,000 Engagements

• 20 Country Artist Influencers

• Over 100 pieces of content and spots

From 2014-2017, I was the Co-founder of MyCountryNation, a lifestyle-themed social media network for millennial country music fans in association with Walmart.

46 Hours was created as vehicle to tell artists’ stories by following them for most of a two period… “46 hours with our cameras and two hours off.” It was consistently our highest-rated and most engaged series. We made 40+ episodes, with custom versions formatted for YouTube, Facebook, Facebook Live, and a handful for the launch of InstagramTV. The artists posted them toothier own socials to further drive engagement. Walmart was the sponsor of the series. Fans loved the all-access behind the scenes look into their favorite country stars.

I served as Executive Producer/Creative Director for all branded content series and specials, and relationships with channel talent. In the role, I secured brand sponsors and agencies of record. I led the production ramp up from zero content to over 100 episodes in under 6 months.

During my tenure, I created and Executive Produced nearly 400+ episodes of millennial-focused content with 30 million views, 100+ million impressions, and securing agreements for music stars, super-influencers, and sports heroes.

Solution: 

For Hallmark, we recruited country music stars Cassadee Pope and Lindsay Ell, along with one of country's hottest duos, Maddie & Tae for this video series showcasing how these artists stay in touch with loved ones while out on the road. Viewers saw how these female powerhouses stay in touch with their loved ones by sharing Hallmark cards. From the bus to the studio to songwriting sessions, these artists found time to stop at Walmart and pick up card to share with a loved one. These artists shared true stories of special moments when they received or sent cards and created an authentic connection to the Hallmark brand.

What also set this campaign apart was that two of our artists, Cassadee Pope and Lindsay Ell connected with their fans during meet & greets in-store at a Walmart location. This in-store activation attracted hundreds of shoppers to the Hallmark aisle and Taillight was there to capture the action and share that content across the artists' socials. 

Campaign in action:

• Four Artist Brand Ambassadors

• 16 pieces of original, exclusive content created and delivered

• Content designed to live on multiple platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Walmart.com

• On site activations: meet & greets with Cassadee Pope and Lindsay Ell inside a Walmart store

• 1 Million Video Views

• 13 Million Impressions

• 4 Million Reach

From 2014-2017, I was the Co-founder of MyCountryNation, a lifestyle-themed social media network for millennial country music fans in association with Walmart.

I served as Executive Producer/Creative Director for all branded content series and specials, and relationships with channel talent. In the role, I secured brand sponsors and agencies of record. I led the production ramp up from zero content to over 100 episodes in under 6 months.

Our team guided MyCN to become the top-rated and most engaged millennial country music social media site that helped secure a successful exit for all partners in 2017.

During my tenure, I created and Executive Produced nearly 400+ episodes of millennial-focused content with 30 million views, 100+ million impressions, and securing agreements for music stars, super-influencers, and sports heroes.

It was unique ride, one where I got to tell great stories, put the spotlight on the next stars of country music, all while executing proprietary branded content strategies and unique social media plans to produce measurable sales results at Walmart for our global brand clients.

Challenge:

Football Season significantly boosts grocery sales every fall. To capitalize on that momentum, Kingsford and Dr. Pepper hoped to draw the attention of football fans to their local Walmart to purchase their tailgating necessities.    

Solution:

When you think about the perfect tailgate, a few staples come to mind: a cold beverage, a BBQ and great music. That's why the partnership between Dr. Pepper, Kingsford and country music was a perfect fit brought to life through relevant and engaging content from Taillight.    

Campaign In Action:

• Recruited two of the biggest names in country music, Jason Aldean and Brad Paisley to serve as brand ambassadors for Kingsford and Dr. Pepper.

• Produced and optimized this two-year campaign with a special focus on the three months leading up to football season. 

• Created the content for the Kingsford and Dr. Pepper media platforms to help create a better Walmart Shopping Experience for the fall football season. 

• Developed an online series starring Brad Paisley and Jason Aldean, showing fans how to get ready for games from shopping to tailgating and more! 

Seasonal Results:

• 600K VIDEO VIEWS

• 13.5M TOTAL IMPRESSIONS

• 63% online ad view rate

• 119k clicks to site

• Sales Increase at all North American Walmarts during the run of program

Challenge:

Brands are always trying to find new and exciting ways to attract and maintain their customers. Swisher Sweets and the Hip Hop genre have always had close ties, but how can the brand capitalize on that bond to attract consumers?

Solution:

The answer was to surprise and delight consumers with the music they love. By putting on pop-up concerts, also known as Pack Nights, in major cities across the United States. Swisher Sweets could provide one of a kind experiences that their consumers wanted to share with their friends and followers via social media.

We produced experiences in major cities across the US in which fans were able to attend concerts at iconic venues and see emerging artists alongside famous R&B artists Gucci Mane, Desiigner, Fetty Wap, Machine Gun Kelly, Cardi B and many more. At each Pack Night, an up and coming artist was awarded an opportunity to attend the finale event in New Orleans where all headliner artists performed. Content was gathered and promoted throughout the year.

Campaign In Action:

• 10 ‘Pack Night’ concerts in Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and an end of the year ‘Take Over’ event in New Orleans.

• Concerts featured top Hip Hop artists Gucci Mane, Desiigner, Fetty Wap, Cardi B and Machine Gun Kelly

• Captured ‘Swisher Smoke Lounge Series’ where new artists interviewed headliner artists while enjoying a Swisher Sweet.

• Promo shoot, award show production and content creation during the Swisher Sweets ‘Spark Award show.' The Spark award was given to hip hop artist, Gucci Mane in 2018, Cardi B in 2019 and DaBaby in 2020.

• Swisher and Taillight targeted country music fans with the ‘CMA Fest Country Concert Series’ with Facebook Live events.

• Robust and strategic media strategy to push new content to fans.

• Management and growth of Swisher’s social media presence.

Headline:

“SMARTWATER, VITAMINWATER CALL ON LAUREN ALAINA AND TAILLIGHT TO 'HYDRATE YOUR DAY'

Fresh, clean content delivers an overflow of impressions and engagements for the brands.”

Challenge:

Based on the success of the collaboration on a Dasani program, Coca-Cola came to us for help with their Glaceau brands smartwater and vitaminwater. In order to drive beverage sales at Walmart, these brands needed fresh and authentic content to carry their messaging and draw consumers into their stores for cold, healthy and hydrating beverages.

Solution:

Based off previous campaign success, Coca-Cola was confident in their decision to utilize Taillight to conceptualize and produce capturing content and to turn once again to Lauren Alaina as a brand ambassador.  During this two-month campaign, award winning country artist Lauren Alaina, encouraged people to Hydrate Your Day by sharing her active lifestyle all while staying hydrated with her favorite mineral water.  By sharing these slice-of-life moments we were able to authentically personify the product through fresh and clean footage.  

Campaign In Action:

• Taillight delivered authentic, simple, moment driven photography and videos featuring the products in a natural “hydration moment” with country artist, Lauren Alaina

• Delivered a mixture of organic and paid ads including video content and teaser posts

• Organized and produced a 1 day video shoot with content captured by Taillight’s commercial photographer and filmmaker, Jason Wallis

• 122K Video Views

• 15M Total Impressions

• 8 Artist Social Posts

• 28k Engagements

• Measured sales lift at Walmart

Challenge:

To help create awareness for our Nation’s veterans, Walmart created the Greenlight a Vet campaign, which established national support by changing one light to green, and keeping it glowing everyday to say “thank you” to our vets.

But how do you inspire people to get involved? Walmart turned to online platform, My Country Nation—a digital distributor of country music lifestyle content. In turn, My Country Nation tapped Taillight to spark a social media conversation utilizing 50 country artists and influencers.  

Campaign:

During the CMA Awards national CBS broadcast, Walmart kicked off the campaign with a special moment.

And for the next 9 days until Veterans day, we kept the content rolling with more and more online acts of support from artists like Reba McEntire, Kelsea Ballerini, Scotty McCreery and Justin Moore. In the end, the campaign generated 1.3 million views across social platforms and 764,000 shares, likes or post clicks. We hit 60.8 million in reach across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Walmart wanted to activate the country music fan base. Taillight answered the call. Greenlight A Vet—with support from country artists, influencers and their fans—now that’s a bright idea.

At Taillight, I was Co-Creator, Executive Producer, and Show Runner for the television and streaming series Raiders of Rock on CMT.

The Next Great American Band was a spin-off of the widely popular American Idol for Fox. I served as Senior Producer, running Story teams and building Story packages, for the first season of this show on Fox.

I Created this series for CMT and served as Executive Producer and Show Runner on the series.

I served as Supervising Producer for the debut season of this series for CMT. I worked closely with the production company Fremantle to develop the format from a successful Danish series to make it work for US audiences.

For the first decade of my career I was a nationally recognized, award winning Director of over 300 music video and commercials and Executive Producer of another 400 music videos for artists like the Bruce Springsteen, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Trace Atkins, Kenny Chesney, Dixie Chicks, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Duncan Sheik, Brian McKnight, Take That, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, BB King, Natalie Merchant, Amy Grant, and many more.

This is a feature film I Directed. It’s about music as a healing force even behind bars at one of America’s most notorious prisons, Brushy Mountain.