Susan Parker

SusanParkerCD@gmail.com Downloadable pdf resume

 WORK experience

FREELANCE CREATIVE, Peet’s Coffee, Feb 2024 - Present

Development and execution of compelling seasonal and product launch campaigns, as well as ad hoc cross-channel marketing, including in-store and packaging, that drives brand awareness, engagement, and most importantly, revenue. Developed the first unified portfolio positioning and voice for Peet's, Stumptown, Intelligentsia, and Caribou Coffee.

FREELANCE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, COPYWRITER, INCLUSIVE MARKETING CONSULTANT, Present

Creative direction, copywriting, and advising on how to make brand communications more authentically representative of our diverse world.

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, Media.Monks (acquired Firewood), SF. April 2021 - June 2023

GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR, Firewood Marketing, SF. Nov 2018 - April 2021

Led a 20+ creative team as a seamless extension of Google's global marketing org, with a $16M budget. Proactively provided value-add solutions to support client goals.

Creative and management responsibilities: Delivered 500+ annual projects– branding, email, web, social, display, video, GTM, messaging strategy, playbooks, and more–empowering millions of SMB customers and agency partners to thrive with Google’s ad products, as well as recruitment and internal campaigns. 

• Served as trusted creative advisor on Google’s SMB creative review panel, reviewing creative by all agencies prior to launch to ensure quality and consistency.

• Oversaw creation of 22 snackable videos for Google Marketing Live 2023. On-demand views +230%, average view time +140% YoY.

• Collaborated to develop a pod model leveraging agile methodology with creatives working in sprints. Testing and optimization drove improved performance (14x feature adoption in one test). 

• Ensured high team retention and performance during the transition from Firewood to the 30x larger Media.Monks, and shift to remote work. This included workshops to translate new company values into an empowering, actionable team manifesto, and creating opportunities for growth.

Inclusive marketing initiatives: Passionate about creative work authentically representing diverse individuals and steering clear of stereotypes. Co-founded Media.Monks’ Inclusive Marketing Practice to help brands get it right, and gain greater audience connection and loyalty.

• Led the charge to improve representation in our Google Ads and YouTube Ads creative. Developed an audit process, benchmarks, and recommendations. Guided creation of hundreds of character illustrations, developed a marketers’ tip sheet endorsed by Google’s CMO, and crafted content enhancing Google’s internal guidance for B2B and global markets. Improvement in creative was measured quarterly.

• Generated new Media.Monks revenue streams (inclusive marketing audits generated $300K+ our first year with brands like Uber), provided agency-wide training, and published thought leadership. Co-led creation of A Practical Guide to Inclusive Marketing website that attracted industry attention.

FREELANCE, Swirl McGarryBowen, SF. July 2018 - Nov 2018

Pitched in wherever needed, including concepting and writing videos, display ads and social for Jira Software, in-flight entertainment for United Airlines, a California Table Grapes print campaign and staring down wild animals outside the office. (Yup, facing a coyote in the early morning takes 'problem solving' to a whole new level.)

GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR, W2O Group (now Real Chemistry), SF. March 2017 - July 2018

CREATIVE DIRECTOR. Sept 2015 - March 2017

ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR. Dec 2012 - Sept 2015

Led creative to launch BrewLife, a W2O OpCo, specializing in strategic positioning, branding and marketing for emerging tech, healthcare, and life sciences brands. Grew BrewLife to 25 people, $11M revenue in three years. Promoted to lead W2O’s full SF creative dept of 15+, supporting clients from the largest pharma co to a family-run winery.

• Launched BrewLife, stewarded its website and social channels, and established a thought leadership platform as blog owner for 2+ years. Collaborated to create standard scopes and established copy templates, increasing efficiency and clarity.

• Partnered on brand workshops, crafted positioning blueprints, and developed messaging platforms. Translated strategy into captivating branding and creative campaigns that won over consumer, HCP and investor audiences.

• Grew Stryker Neurovascular account from a brochure refresh to a $1M per year, multi-year engagement. Adopting a holistic brand perspective led to a reimagined user-centric brand architecture and benefit-first creative that set Stryker NV apart from competitors in print, sales collateral, social and events.

• Initiated opportunities to celebrate creative talent internally and externally. W2O’s first participation in SF Design Week provided public speaking practice at our open studio, positioned us as a creative agency, and attracted potential candidates and new biz leads. The agency-wide lunch and learns showcased creative capabilities, successes and valuable takeaways. 

• Clients included: Coravin Wine Access Tech, Epilepsy Foundation, FRS Energy & Endurance Products, Genomic Health, Hotel Zephyr, HP Printing, Intuitive Surgical, Pfizer, Stryker Neurovascular, Wente Vineyards, and countless others.

ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, Skow, SF. July 2010-Oct 2012

Played a pivotal role in creative development and copywriting, cultivated client relationships, led presentations, and showcased our boutique marketing and brand consultancy’s expertise in pitches.

• Contributed to audience segmentation and rebrand for Second Life (the original metaverse) to boost market relevance. Led creative development and wrote email, website, and banners. Managed account for two months to ensure client continuity during account team transition, enabling agency president to focus on biz dev.

• Managed small creative team, instituting 3-month new hire goals and performance reviews, which fostered a culture of talent development and clear focus. Resourced freelancers.

• Clients included: Genentech, Kaspersky, Second Life, Symantec, VMware, QlikView

SR. COPYWRITER, Freelance, SF. Nov 2008-July 2010

Provided engaging creative for Abilicorp, draftFCB, Kodak Gallery, Young & Rubicam.

• Kodak Gallery (1yr+): Developed creative for large-scale revamp of e-commerce website with 75M users. Increased order value and expanded customer base with cross-sells, upsells, new products for pros, photo sharing prompts and SEO. Optimized updates through A/B testing, live user feedback and rapid weekly deployments. Crafted seasonal, product launch and triggered emails to nurture retention and sales.

SR. COPYWRITER, Wunderman/Y&R Brands, SF. March 2006-Oct 2008

Created multi-channel campaigns and new business pitches, including Blue Shield win. Work included 360 campaigns for Heavenly Ski Resort, and drinking all the Diet Dr Pepper in the name of client research.

• Engaged marketing-averse microchip designers for Cadence Virtuoso launch. Our pre-launch UGC slogan contest tapped into the rivalry between analog and digital designers, resulting in 15+ min average microsite visits. Print, banners and landing page paid it off post-launch, with results 5x industry standard.

• Clients included: AMD, Blue Shield CA, Cadence Design Systems, ChevronTexaco, Dr Pepper, Heavenly Ski Resort, Hitachi, NCAA, Symantec

SR. COPYWRITER, Freelance, SF. Oct 2004-March 2006

Developed impactful concepts and copy for Attik, Adobe/Macromedia, OgilvyOne, Roar Advertising

• Macromedia (1yr+): Primary creative team for multi-channel Studio 8 launch, with highly interactive microsite experience. The most successful product launch in Macromedia’s history.

SR. COPYWRITER, Nimblefish, SF. June 2002-Oct 2004

Specialized in personalized digital print and email marketing, incorporating deep relevance and trackable individualized microsites.

• Crafted highly targeted direct mail and landing pages to boost attendance of commercial printers at HP digital press roadshow. Achieved impressive 12% response rate and 59% conversion, prompting expansion across Europe.

• Clients included: Adobe, Apple, HP, Lowe’s, Microsoft, NYU, Siemens, Sun Microsystems

  
  
  

COPYWRITER, J. Walter Thompson, SF. Sept 1999-March 2002

Created compelling concepts and copy for print, radio, TV and dot-com digital at the network’s West Coast creative shop. Charged up PG&E, toasted Beaulieu Vineyard, and generated appetite for Coco's Bakery.

• Clients included: Babystyle.com, Beaulieu Vineyard Wines, CheapTickets.com, ChevronTexaco, Coco’s Restaurants, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Pets Unlimited, YMCA

EDUCATION

• BS Advertising, University of Texas, Austin TX

• Copywriting, Creative Circus, Atlanta GA

• Former Teacher, Academy of Art University, SF. I learned as much as I taught.

 EGO MANAGEMENT

• Winner MarCom Awards (4 platinums, 2018), Innovation SABRE (finalist 2019), Shorty Awards (Audience Honor 2019), DxMA, RX Club, Act Exhibition at Cannes, San Francisco Show, US Ad Review, Show South

• Published in AdAge 8/24/2020: How to guarantee that your marketing images are diverse and inclusive

• Speaker: CreativePro Design & Accessibility Summit, SF Design Week

• Juror: ANA International ECHO Awards x4, PRWeek/Campaign Brand Film Festival

 LIFE EXPERIENCE

• Grew up in South Africa in a time of change. Gained an accent, open mind, and chameleon adaptability.

• Moved to Austin. Earned a degree, another accent, and a love of queso.

• Lured to San Francisco for work. Developed a compulsion for swimming in the Bay. Without a wetsuit. Yes, it’s a little odd, but good odd.

SOME Nice things people have said about me

“We will never find a kinder, smarter, more passionate leader than you”

- Media.Monks Creative Director, direct report

Thank you for showing me what it means to always champion your team, never back down from a challenge, and always lead with inclusivity.

- Media.Monks Group Account Director, peer

“You've been a wonderful collaborator and a joy to be around. We definitely had some great times and produced a lot of great work together...and I'm eternally grateful for the experience.”

- Google Global SMB Creative Marketing Team, client

I would highly recommend Susan for any creative leadership role. She would be a valuable asset to your company, just as she was to mine.

- W2O Chief Creative Officer, manager