1. tech skills

CREATIVE WRITING:

10

Example: I developed a creative voice for Nielsen TOPTEN that I'd describe as “your dorky friend who has empirically grounded advice to help you live a better life.” In this example entry, I married Drake’s viral hit song about cell phones with data from Nielsen Telecom products. The piece was a viral smash and was a top performer for the year.

IFRAME LOADS BELOW:

1. tech skills

HTML:

8

Example: You're looking at it! I customized and built components of this website, maxbrawer.com, between 2011 and present day.

1. tech skills

CONTENT AND SOCIAL ANALYTICS:

8

Example: I have been working with social media metrics since 2008, building models for IAC / CollegeHumor in a time before Facebook even had analytic suites. I've recently refreshed with Google Analytics and multiple analytic startups for growth hacking at WayUp, so I'm comfortable with the tools of the trade. Additionally: I have made Uber an analytics deck before! Though these aren't content/social analytics, I wanted to use this relevant presentation as an example of my analytical work:

1. tech skills

EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGY:

9

Example: I built and managed Nielsen’s first online community panel (for Participant Media). It was a Reddit-like community for discussing television shows, watching streams, and taking surveys. Once on the site, the goal was to collect survey data to develop programming, so the content and email campaigns had to draw enough users for sufficient sample size.

Below: my qualification for the above: a Direct Marketing Scholarship!

1. tech skills

CONTENT PARTNERSHIPS AND CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT:

7

Example: Many of my campaign stats have proprietary info, so here’s a content partnership that I wrote and pitched from scratch for Forbes:

1. tech skills

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS AND ENTERPRISE EMAIL:

8

Example: I’ve used MailChimp, Iterable, Mandrill & Constant Contact. I’ve used tools like Hootsuite for over 5 years and at Nielsen, I ran many internal communications campaigns in Mailchimp & Inkbrush (to build interactive templates) to educate our teams. Below is an internal diversity campaign I ran for Nielsen, "Culture Corner":

2. THE UBER BRAND IN 3 WORDS:

"ENABLER OF EXPERIENCES"

                    My critique of Uber’s current brand voice in NYC ads is that some sound like they are drawn from a positioning statement: they tell you Uber is inexpensive and quick with a few words of ornamental language or one foot in the pop culture door to add color (e.g., “dropping prices like it’s hot”) rather than reaching New Yorkers on a personal level in the way that Seamless or Manhattan Mini Storage do. These taglines or references could apply to anything (brands like Postmates have used “dropping prices like it’s hot” as well), which doesn’t differentiate Uber from the growing competition of Juno, Via, Lyft, and Gett.

                    The executions on Uber’s social media that I love most are those that highlight how Uber can connect you with an experience you didn’t know you could execute without a ride. The ideal voice I’d propose for NYC would have Uber speak with authority as the local expert who has been around the block (excuse the pun) who knows the great spots and how to get you there. Distinct from the yellow cab’s voice of “we’re the real New Yorkers” and the newcomers voice of “don’t let big Uber boss you around,” Uber NYC can sound like a native New Yorker who welcomes you into their city and is excited to show you around. Three ways in which Uber can do this:

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2. the uber brand (continued)

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                    The post on Uber’s Facebook page that suggests fall activities in Connecticut is  a great example because it addresses  a real unmet need for New Yorkers: “I want to go do a great October activity but don’t know how to get there.” Just last week I found friends expressing this sentiment on Facebook and I offered them a lift in my parents’ minivan, researched apple picking orchards like crazy, and put a lot of legwork into connecting those dots, drawing on my family and friends for transit and planning advice. BUT -- why not let Uber be that expert? I would drive Uber’s social channels to reach out more often with informative and empowering opportunities made possible by Uber.

                    A variation on this theme is that Uber creates happenings that you didn’t think were possible in a rideshare/taxi. I have friends who have sat down in an Uber Pool with an investor or luminary who ended up being a valuable career mentor. That’s why I am psyched to see a content partnership with Pool Pitch offering just that experience. Uber is thereby pushing the ceiling up for how exciting a ride can be. I would push Uber’s social channels to shift focus to some of these higher-order benefits of ridesharing aside from lowered costs.

                    Thirdly, there is an area I don’t see Uber mentioning yet. Even though Google Maps presents us with information on how to get anywhere, New Yorkers still have a lot of more detailed questions to ask: What’s the best time of day to use the FDR? Which streets are closed today? Even if this route is faster, will I be in stop-and-go traffic? These are the minutiae that really matter. Uber can turn so much of its data into insights on these questions and push the messaging out to New Yorkers in a way that makes us feel Uber knows the city best.

3. critique an email

1. goal

I think the goal of this email was to drive attention to a one-day deal and, in turn, maximize participation in this branded partnership with CapitalOne. A secondary goal would likely be to retain those participants as future users of UberEats by raising awareness of the Eats available to users in NYC. Thirdly, the email aims to refer new signups to CapitalOne credit cards. It is sent at 5am so that a user starts their day thinking about afternoon ice cream.

3. critique an email

2. IMPROVEMENT

One thing I love about this campaign is that it is a very transparent and genuine branded partnership. As a reader, I see Uber is being upfront and honest that this is delicious ice cream paid for by CapitalOne (the email says “Sweetened by CapitalOne” which is a very cute and cheeky way of filling me in) and is a nice thank-you to me, an Uber user with a CapitalOne card. One key issue with this campaign, however, is that it is not targeted as narrowly as it could be - many who receive this message will not be eligible to participate but won’t read that fine print. Similarly, this is a very long email and tries to accomplish many items (showing off sexy ice cream pics, informing a user of UberEats, getting CapitalOne signups, etc.) and should probably try to focus its efforts to achieve one impact in the short timespan of a reader’s attention.

3. critique an email

3. my code and design edits

1. Bring one of the hi-res ice cream photos to the top to tantalize the reader (below the header)
2. Change the font-family and/or increase the weight so that it is easier to read and more novel than helvetica. Cognitively speaking, the brain may turn off while trying to absorb all this light-weight, sans-serif text
3. I would aim to lower word count and distracting hyperlinks (unless they all lead to the same destination)
4. I’d add more diversity of color to the design to help keep the reader stimulated
5. I would redesign the 1-2-3 “how to” graphic to be more directionally clear OR replace it with a gif of the product in action
6. I would either divide this email into multiple campaigns OR suggest repeating the major call to action button (blue). For example, one large blue button after the initial section, another after the menu, etc. to help me learn where in the email body readers decided to click through
7. I would consider dividing this email into a more targeted set of campaigns that are context-specific to CapitalOne cardholders (or our best guess) and UberEats users/non users. Different information may appeal to different levels of Eats users

3. critique an email

4. new subject lines

A Sweet Deal :  FREE ICE CREAM TODAY!

FREE #UBERICECREAM IN MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN

WANT TO SUMMON A FREE, ON-DEMAND ICE CREAM TRUCK?

SUMMON YOUR ON-DEMAND ICE CREAM TRUCK FOR FREE WITH #UBERICECREAM

SEIZE THE FRIDAY WITH FREE #UBERICECREAM FROM AMPLE HILLS & MORE

4. recent tweets

1.

In reviewing Uber_NYC on Twitter, I found that announcements are the channel’s strong suit, but that the handle should first grow its audience through more exciting content or service journalism to improve the reach of those announcements.

This is a very good tweet. It aims to tell New Yorkers of a very specific, popular, and hard-to-accomplish-with-public-transit route that is now at a lower price point. The photo does indeed say “Brooklyn.” My critiques are that this tweet could be even better if it reached more New Yorkers. Probabilistically, we have limited the audience # of people who take this one specific route. I would follow up with a call to action like “see if your trip is also part of #UberUnder8.” I may also experiment with a product shot of the fare estimator showing me $6.80 over this route to make the potential experience more tangible.

4. recent tweets

2.

The Hamilton giveaway is an excellent example of Uber enabling NYC experiences as described above, but some campaign tweets like this with a goal of driving more entries have missed their shot. The hashtag is trying to include Uber instead of employing the power of the more popular, existing #Hamilton hashtags. There is also no Hamilton media to catch attention. Plus, this #uberhamilton hashtag had previously been used in tweets meant to criticize Uber in an unrelated event. Alternatively I would love to experiment with product gifs of a user in-app taking the requested action. Then, as a reader I might know how easy it is to enter.

4. recent tweets

3.

The goal of this tweet, based on its timing and photo, seem to say “You’re leaving work, it is beautiful out, Uber to a bar.” I think it could be improved with a move beyond stock photography (of the view of New York from the river, which speaks more to non-New Yorkers) and to a photo of an actual rooftop bar. I would also try to speak in dialogue to someone scrolling through Twitter at the end of a workday: “It’s too nice out to go straight home from work. Ride to one of New York’s rooftop bars...” for example. This would strike a chord more than “Savor the summer.” As mentioned before, many brands could use that same tagline. Across tweets like this one, the author seems to favor a quick alliteration or comic line to add a touch of color to tweets at the expense of contributing to the specific message and call to action.

5. past campaigns

nielsen topten

The content campaign of which I am most proud was Nielsen TOPTEN. It was born on the premise that Nielsen has interesting data: data that answers questions relevant to the average American but is typically only shared through B2B channels. I combined my background in humor writing and entertainment research to start a data + culture publication with the voice of “Your dorky friend with sound, empirically grounded wisdom” or “BuzzFeed with real data.” The content was an enormous success, generating over 10MM impressions, going from 0 to 1000 followers in a month, and earning syndication on MSN and in media studies textbooks.

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5. past campaigns

nielsen topten

...The key strategy here was that, as they say, “content was king.” The articles were made to answer interesting popular culture questions in a funny way for consumers. You could enjoy them independent of your interaction with the Nielsen brand. Once the voice took off and the content was great, we started to use it for employer branding (recruiting), building trust among young panelists for Nielsen studies, and to sell products to our clients. All of this came after the entertainment value was established and gave readers intrinsic motivation to read and share (product aside). Uber could benefit from a strategy like this to build an initial following and to be seen as “experts” in the  field. Social channels that are now more of a bulletin board for promotions among a smaller audience could become outlets for interesting NYC material that will inspire riders to call an Uber and go somewhere new.

Additionally, I always liked how Nielsen was called “gurus” whenever we published hip, relatable data, but were otherwise often insulted in the press for being “antiquated.” If Uber were  to share data and expertise on New York City using its massive dataset and partnerships, we could get more positive press that helps us stand out from the rideshare crowd as the “experts.”

5. past campaigns

new student center initiative

Jumping back to college for a campaign I was especially proud of: I led the multi-functional marketing team for the New Student Center Initiative, which aimed to get the University to invest in a modern, centralized student center to help bridge a perceived divide in campus culture. The ask was $90+ million dollars of construction and planning, so we needed to highlight a strong need.

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5. past campaigns

new student center initiative

We launched a set of editorial pieces with different students describing their center of campus (and what “campus” meant to them). The core of the campaign was that it was a dialogue--most editorials just tell you something, but ours asked a question. Students could find our display ads--large maps of campus with a prompt--around campus and graffiti in their own personal center of campus and leave notes on why. In the end, we composited a tapestry of how every student views NU in order to make a single ad execution with the message that students were indeed fragmented and lacking in their sense of community (and the campaign succeeded!).

The theme Uber could borrow from this is participation. As the leading rideshare service, Uber may be viewed as the establishment by many (rather than something the average person can access). Uber can build goodwill by gathering more stories of actual customers/drivers and projecting them back out in the form of content to attract new drivers and riders. I see this beginning to happen in a great way thanks to drivers who are becoming celebrities on snapchat for broadcasting their experience as drivers. This does a lot to humanize the brand and the city it serves.

5. past campaigns

Forbes "Managing UP"

This third campaign is a prospective one I designed that I would like to share because it is wholly my own undertaking and has a strategy that could be effective for Uber. It was inspired by a very effective post that I posted independently to Forbes’ leadership blog. The series of posts, Managing Up, would employ the concept of upward management: an early-career (or ‘millennial’) voice reflecting constructively to superiors on our experiences with workplace management, promoting a discourse among our own generation as we grow into management roles. They would serve as a content campaign for services I offer independently as a mentor for college students applying for work.

5. past campaigns

forbes "Managing up"

The initial post was successful in that it aimed to target two audiences (and fired on two cylinders). The primary audience seemed to be baby boomers in management positions. The content addressed them outright and offered lessons. That said, by reaching out with a plea to this generation, the content becomes a rallying cry for readers of my own generation. Both parties shared the article as if to say “I learned something” or to say “yeah, I agree!” from the sidelines. This maximized the overall reach. Uber could adopt this same strategy to reach any two parties, most likely riders and drivers or riders and non-riders. By writing engaging content that promotes a dialogue, you’re able to mobilize your users to attract new ones.

6. 30-60-90

thirty day plan

• Have an ‘office hours’ style meeting where all teammates who want to offload thoughts or goals for content marketing can do so
• Be fully self-sufficient with all tools, softwares, and services our team uses
• Establish KPIs and metrics for the months ahead
• Know the names, faces, and fun facts about all new york office mates
• More deeply understand the org chart and know who to reach for what among sales, marketing, and other related functions

• Create cloud-based tracking system for pitches and ideas, a place to store and prioritize middle-of-the-night ideas for content

  • Populate with first 50 ideas

• Test at least one new hypothesis for improving content style via A/B testing

• Have short coffee breaks with all team members and leaders available to me in the NYC office

• Read and respond to a number of support tickets to see what NYC riders are saying

• Spend an hour with friends who have worked in Uber Marketing for other offices and learn their advice and best practices

• Complete a competitive analysis of the voice and social efforts of Juno, Via, Lyft, Gett in NYC

• Write expanded 30-60-90 plan

6. 30-60-90

ninety day plan

• Establish a check-in cadence with all constituents for regular feedback and review

• Have active dashboard that consolidates social and content KPIs and stats for daily and weekly review

  • And have a cadence for distributing to other internal stakeholders

• Throw at least one internal event with team members with a diversity focus (e.g., Lunar New Year celebration)

  • Scope out potential for other internal resource groups and projects within Uber organization

• Integrate into recruiting and interviewing process as needed/welcome by the team

• Establish an ongoing Slack channel or thread for interesting content and competitive trends around the web / among core competitors

• Backlog first 200 ideas for pieces and stories

• Test at least 5 new hypotheses for improving content style via A/B testing

• Give at least 2 presentations of case studies or greatest hits to educate team on some early success and failures

• Start an internal, regular newsletter or email to share brief highlights and goings-on from the marketing/content teams

• Meet goal of expanding interactions-per-post and email open / clickthru rates by agreed upon margin

• Establish sense of voice's positioning in New York City among the competition: