Nicolas Johnson MBA
*** ******** ****** ***************@*****.***
Louisville, KY 40206 +1-917-***-****
Legal Status: Permanent Resident Covid-19 Status: Vaccinated Open to relocation and/or remote working
Brand Strategy is Business Strategy. An experienced strategic brand marketer with a unique international perspective. Thrive with the challenge of making the complex simple and telling stories. Believe that data requires the spark of humanity to catch fire. EDUCATION
2013 Executive MBA, with Brand Strategy specialism, Wharton Business School, UPenn 2005 MBA, ESADE, Barcelona
2002 Change Management Diploma, University of London 1999 BA (hons) Modern History, Keble College, Oxford University WORK EXPERIENCE
2014 - present: SCOPPECHIO, Louisville KY
SVP, Strategy, Media & Data Analytics
Scoppechio is an independent full service agency with 120 employees and +$100mm billings Created and led the strategy function across the complete agency portfolio of restaurant, healthcare and retail B2C and B2B clients.
Research Tools Experience includes: MRI, Scarborough, eMarketer, Mintel, Crimson Hexagon, Netbase, Google Analytics, Salesforce, Punchh, Facebook Manager, Pintererst, Reddit, UXPressia Journey Mapping
Highlights from client portfolio include these case studies: Baptist Health: regional hospital system with network of primary and urgent care access points Challenge: Creation and implementation of unified brand identity in post-merger integration, respecting legacy reputation and professional strengths Approach: multiple market visits for local stakeholder engagement; patient primary research and experiential journey mapping; service line performance data analysis Insight: Growth in patient choice and expectation demands attention to experience as much as clinical outcomes; with local community engagement and easy access driving positive brand perceptions
Brand Positioning: ‘Centered on You’ - healthcare that puts you and your family in control Activations: Brand anthem video, plus volume-driving service line campaigns leveraging unified brand theme across all media platforms; patient experience programs and internal communications celebrating brand positioning
LG&E/KU: regional gas and electric utility provider, acting as a monopoly Challenge: Leadership felt they lacked credit for investments and improvements to generation and distribution, and were increasingly challenged by local politicians for approvals in rate increases, despite having some of the lowest rates in the country Approach: consumer focus groups and quantitative research; senior stakeholder interviews and engagement with local service employees
Insight: ‘Just keep the lights on and help me reduce my bill’ - consumers were prepared to engage in what was relevant to them
Brand Positioning: ‘Empowering Possibilities’ - led with an emotive anthem video using
‘This Little Light of Mine’ sung by employees against a montage of beautiful images Activation: Brand video awarded Best 2020 Brand Campaign by eSource; supplemented by Tips and Advice for energy cost savings videos delivered by real employees; internal employee awards and recruitment content
Fazoli’s: fast casual Italian chain of 200 restaurants across Midwest Challenge: Declining traffic and revenue, slow adoption of digital off premise offerings, lack of focus with menu innovation
Approach: Core audience interviews, brand insights thru social monitoring tool (Crimson Hexagon); CEO and senior stakeholder interviews; CRM database analysis Insight: Strong occasion affinity with multi-generational families and brand acted as a complement/competitor to home cooking - “Everybody loves pasta, right!” Brand Positioning: ’The Family’s Favorite’ - an everyday solution for the whole family Activation: Menu offerings for family dining for delivery/take-out; developed social personality and content; developed CRM program with segmented rewards to reduce cost of discounting and increase frequency
Other clients include: Wyndham Resorts; CHS Hospitals, YUM Brands, Long John Silvers, GoldStar Chili, Crunch Fitness, Advent Health, Kentucky State Tourism, Ohio State Tourism 2005-2014: HERTZ CORPORATION (US & UK)
2010-2014: Global Brand Innovation Director, based in Park Ridge, NJ Brand Reinvention of Hertz Rent a Car and subsequent integration of Dollar Thrifty acquisition, delivering new identity across digital and physical assets, cultural change and new experiential services including Gold Mobile Alerts, Gold Choice and eReturn
- Led customer experience primary research to uncover insights and emotional needs of customers and intersection of technology innovation to deliver competitive advantage
- Led strategic visioning and business plan to secure C-suite sponsorship
- Developed marketing and advertising programs ‘Traveling at the Speed of Hertz’ to launch and support innovations
- Managed agency relationships in bringing campaign to market
- Award Recognition for services include Zagat, SMITTY, Information Week, FlyerTalk, GBTA
- Formed cross-functional execution teams to deliver physical, digital, product, and cultural transformation
- Led visioning and exploration phase of Integration of newly acquired brands into a strategic portfolio vision with defined experience differentiation 2005-2010: Global Marketing Programs Manager, based in Uxbridge, London Marketing Innovation leadership:
- Led customer experience reinvention program for Hertz 24/7 ‘Zipcar’ service based on analysis of consumer insights, future vision and strategy to drive transformation
- Delivered portfolio of technology-driven transformation projects for digital, web and marketing services delivering revenue and cost savings
- Led pan-European cost reduction program delivering $5m savings in 6 weeks 1999-2002 PR WITH CLOUT Ltd LONDON
Account Executive with technology innovation PR agency with clients including WordStar, Apricot Computers, Softsel Diistribution, WinMail
INDUSTRY AFFILIATIONS
Speaking: Guest panelist, Future of the Collaborative Economy, New York, Oct 2013 Presenter and panelist, Challenges, Eye for Travel Conference, London, Jan 2008 Affiliations: NYTech Meet Up: Leadership Circle Founder member OpenIDEO NYC: innovation tournament participant
Prizes: Global Achievement Award, Hertz 2011
Winner, Accenture Essay Competition, Perspectives Europe 2003 Languages: English (native), Spanish, French, Greek (conversational)