The Challenge
Chevy needed to rebuild trust and consideration at scale. Despite strong products, perception lagged behind competitors, and traditional automotive messaging wasn’t breaking through.
The Insight
Consumers trust other people more than they trust brands especially in a category filled with overproduced, predictable advertising.
The Idea
We flipped the category convention by putting real people—not actors at the center of the story, capturing unscripted reactions to Chevy vehicles in real time.
The campaign became a platform rooted in authenticity—turning everyday drivers into the most credible voice for the brand and creating a format that could evolve across multiple models and moments.
My Role
Led creative direction across the campaign helping shape the platform, guiding teams through concept and execution, and ensuring the tone stayed grounded, human, and believable at every touchpoint.
Worked cross-functionally with strategy, production, and client leadership to scale the idea into a long-running, high-frequency campaign without losing its authenticity.
Execution (System, Not Assets)
Rolled out as a repeatable content system across TV, digital, experiential, and social designed to continuously refresh with new vehicles, new participants, and new reactions while maintaining a consistent core idea.
The Impact
Became one of Chevy’s most recognizable and enduring campaign platforms
Significantly improved brand perception and trust
Delivered sustained sales and consideration lift over multiple years
Established a new creative benchmark for authenticity in the category
The results:
• 38 straight months of year-over-year sales gains.
• Car sales up 32%
• Truck sales up 24%
• Opinion up 16 points
• Consideration up 12 points
• One Show / Creative Effectiveness / 2020
• Effie / Bronze / Brand Renaissance / 2019
• Effie / Finalist / Brand Renaissance / 2018
• Effie / Bronze / Automotive / 2017
• Effie / Finalist / Automotive / 2016
Director: Zach Merck
Turning a PR Crisis into a Cultural Moment
When a live presentation went off-script and sparked online backlash, the brand faced a fast-moving PR challenge. I led a rapid-response effort to reframe the narrative and turn a negative moment into an opportunity.
Within a tight window, we developed and launched a social-led campaign that embraced the conversation rather than avoiding it. By leaning into the language and tone audiences were already using, we created a response that felt immediate, self-aware, and culturally relevant.
The work spread quickly, shifting sentiment and earning significant organic reach. What began as a liability became a defining example of real-time brand agility recognized globally for both creativity and effectiveness.
• Cannes Lions / Gold / Rapid Response
• Cannes Lions / Silver / PR / Crisis
• Cannes Lions / Bronze / Media / Auto
• Clios / Gold / Integrated Campaign
• One Show Auto / Interactive
• One Show / Bronze / Integrated
• D&AD / Wood Pencil / PR Best Response
Results:
That decision resulted in 5 million in free media coverage and a whopping 67.6 million impressions.
The Challenge
In a category dominated by spec wars, competitors were leaning heavily into aluminum as the future—putting pressure on Chevy to defend steel without sounding outdated or defensive.
The Insight
Truck owners don’t just care about materials—they care about strength, durability, and real-world toughness. The conversation wasn’t about aluminum vs. steel—it was about proof.
The Idea
We turned a technical debate into a public demonstration—creating a head-to-head platform that put steel and aluminum to the test in ways people could see, feel, and share.
Instead of telling the story, we let the product prove it.
My Role
Led creative direction across the platform—shaping the idea from concept through execution and ensuring it translated seamlessly from content to live experience.
Aligned cross-disciplinary teams and partners to scale the idea beyond a campaign into something audiences could actively engage with.
Execution (Activation + System)
What started as a campaign evolved into a large-scale experiential platform—with live demonstrations, events, and hands-on activations that brought the comparison directly to consumers.
Designed to be inherently shareable, the experience extended far beyond physical environments, generating widespread organic reach across social and digital channels.
The Impact
Transformed a product claim into a highly visible, participatory brand experience
Scaled into a national activation with significant experiential footprint
Drove widespread social sharing and conversation, amplifying reach well beyond paid media
Reinforced Chevy’s position around strength and durability in a tangible, memorable way
During the three-day activation, video content was gathered and seeded across social media and television. Chevy Silverado became the top trending truck of 2015 on google. Sales lept 33.9% vs 4.8% for Ford in July alone.
• Cannes Lions / Bronze / Activation
• Cannes Lions / Shortlist (x4)
• Effie / Bronze / Auto
• LIA / Silver / Social Media
• LIA / Bronze / Brand Content
• New York Festivals / 2nd Place / Branded
• Creativity A-List / Shortlist
Directed By: Zach Merck
For 75 years, the Batmobile has been one of the world’s most iconic cars. And for each of those 75 years the Batmobile has been powered by Chevrolet engines.
The Challenge
Launch The Lego Batman Movie in a way that could break through a crowded entertainment landscape and resonate beyond just a kids’ audience.
The Insight
Batman isn’t just a character—he’s a cultural icon. And historically, that icon has often been powered by Chevy—from the Batmobile (1966 TV series) built on a Lincoln Futura with Chevy components, to later interpretations like the Batmobile (1989 film) and Batmobile (1995 film), which incorporated Chevrolet engines and parts.
That legacy created a natural bridge between the brand and the character.
The Idea
We amplified Batman’s voice through a campaign that embraced his humor, ego, and cultural self-awareness—while subtly reinforcing Chevy’s long-standing connection to the Batmobile.
The result was a platform that extended beyond the film, positioning both the character and the brand inside a shared cultural narrative.
My Role
Led creative direction across the campaign—shaping tone, guiding execution, and ensuring the work stayed true to the film while building a broader, culturally relevant platform.
Execution (Platform Thinking)
Developed a multi-channel system across digital, social, and content—designed to extend the character into culture and create ongoing engagement leading up to and beyond release.
The Impact
Contributed to a global launch generating $300M+ at the box office
Reached tens of millions of viewers worldwide across theatrical and streaming
Extended into social, driving sustained engagement and shareability
Reinforced Chevy’s connection to an iconic piece of cultural history
• Cannes Lions / Shortlist / Media
• Cannes Lions / Shortlist / Integrated
• Cannes Lions / Shortlist / Brand
• Cannes Lions / Shortlist / Promo
• One Show / Merit / Print & Outdoor
• One Show / Merit / Installations
• One Show / Merit / Brand Entertainment
• New York Festivals / Finalist (X4)
• AICP / Shortlist (X4)
• AICE / Best Visual Effects & Animation
• Creativity / Ad of the Day / Editor's Pick
• Epica / Gold / Product Integration
• Cresta / Silver / Promotions
• One Show / Merit / Moving Craft
• Art Director’s Club / Bronze / Television
• Art Director’s Club / Merit / Editing
• Clios / Shortlist / Video
• Cresta / Bronze / Cinema
• LIA / Bronze / Editing
• New York Festivals / 2nd Place / Craft
Since 1918, Chevrolet has been building the most dependable trucks on the road. So, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Chevy Trucks, we wanted to remind people that what was true about our trucks in 1918 is still true today. So, we created a series of executions that bring this notion to life.
• Effie / Gold
• One Show / Finalist
• D Show / Best in show
• Radio Mercury / Finalist X2
Young artists are addicted, they spend hours and hours perfecting their craft. They can’t help themselves. Their parents are generally less enthused with their child’s artistic aspirations, wishing they’d go to school to become a doctor or a lawyer instead. We created a social media campaign for the College for Creative Studies that played up the duality of this relationship by mimicking anti-drug PSA’s from the 80's and '90's.
The campaign was even parodied by other groups.
The Challenge
Launch the Blazer EV in a way that felt culturally relevant—not just another EV rollout.
The Insight
Barbie has always lived in the future—she was driving electric before the category caught up.
The Idea
We partnered Barbie with Chevy to connect that legacy to what’s next—using a global cultural moment to introduce the Blazer EV to the world.
Instead of a traditional launch, the vehicle showed up where culture was already paying attention.
My Role
Led creative direction across the collaboration—aligning brands, shaping the platform, and guiding teams to deliver a unified, culturally sharp execution.
Execution
Integrated the Blazer EV into the Barbie universe across film and campaign—designed to feel native, not forced.
The Impact
Featured in one of the most-watched films globally, reaching 100M+ viewers worldwide
Positioned the Blazer EV inside a massive cultural moment—not just an auto launch
Elevated Chevy’s EV story with a new, broader audience
Positioned the Blazer EV inside a billion-dollar global phenomenon, putting the brand at the center of one of the most talked-about cultural moments in the world. It wasn’t just a launch—it embedded Chevy’s EV future directly into culture at massive scale.
Best of Show: Overall // Yay to You, Quantum Fiber
Best Copywriting // Yay to You, Quantum Fiber
Gold: Film, Video & Sound—Audio/Radio Advertising
Gold: Film, Video & Sound—Television Advertising
Gold: Cross Platform: Integrated Ad Campaigns
Gold: Elements of Advertsing—Art Direction
Gold: Elements of Advertsiing—Film & Video: Video Editing
Quantum Fiber Internet is the internet’s favorite internet. A national service provider that leans into emojis, chunky type, and loud purple. Instead of talking about product specs, our campaign was a love song to users. A celebration of cat daddies, WFH baddies, and everyone in between. Our spots and endless social/digital/print extensions were a brand song and dance showcasing the glorious things our customers do with Quantum Fiber.
We landed 3.1M impressions in the first three days of our campaign, then 5Xed existing KPIs. AdAge, Campaign US, and others took note, but I liked when roastbrief said: “(this campaign) was a creative leap never before seen in the telco space.”
The Challenge
Reintroduce Chrysler on the biggest stage in advertising while redefining its place in American culture.
The Insight
At a time when the category leaned heavily on performance and specs, there was an opportunity to tap into something deeper—grit, resilience, and American identity.
The Idea
We created a Super Bowl moment that positioned Chrysler as a symbol of American perseverance—leveraging storytelling that transcended automotive and entered cultural conversation.
My Role
Helped shape the creative direction and execution of a high-visibility, high-pressure campaign—aligning stakeholders, guiding the team, and ensuring the work delivered both emotional impact and brand clarity.
The Impact
• National cultural relevance
• Significant brand lift and awareness
• Positioned Chrysler within a more emotional,
story-driven space
Honors and Awards
• Cannes / Finalist
• Archive Magazine / TV
• D Show / Best in Show
It was even parodied on Conan.
Directed By: Arnaud Uytennhove
The Challenge
Create meaningful brand engagement in environments where audiences are overwhelmed with sponsorship messaging.
The Insight
Fans don’t want advertising in these spaces—they want participation and belonging.
The Idea
We designed immersive brand experiences that turned passive audiences into active participants blurring the line between brand and environment.
My Role
Directed the experiential vision and collaborated across teams (production, strategy, partnerships) to ensure the work was not only engaging but operationally executable at scale.
The Impact
Increased fan engagement and brand interaction
Strengthened emotional connection between brand and audience
Delivered measurable on-site and social amplification
By shifting the focus from branding to participation, we created a program that resonated with fans and reinforced the bank’s role in the region. The work combined live experiences, content, and storytelling to build a more authentic connection with the audience.
Turning a Player Insight Into a Citywide Rallying Cry
When Saints QB Tyler Shough entered the spotlight, his name—pronounced “Shuck”—presented a rare cultural opportunity. In New Orleans, where rivalry with the Falcons runs deep and oyster culture is part of the city’s DNA, I saw a way to connect language, place, and fandom into a single, contagious idea.
I led the development of “Shough the Falcons”—a line that felt instantly native to the city. It wasn’t written like a campaign; it was designed to sound like something fans had always said. The goal was simple: create an idea people would adopt and spread on their own.
We moved quickly to seed it across social and into the streets leading up to game day, giving fans something they could wear, say, and rally around. By kickoff, the idea had taken on a life of its own—showing up across tailgates, signage, apparel, and conversations throughout the stadium and city.
What started as a small, instinct-driven idea scaled into a live, fan-powered moment, generating thousands of real-world impressions on game day and embedding itself directly into the culture of the rivalry.
It’s a reminder that the most effective ideas don’t feel like advertising—they feel like they’ve always belonged.
Moving on from “Real People. Not Actors” campaign Chevy was looking to extend the idea of “FIND NEW. ROADS.”
Here are a few of my favorite spots I worked on from this campaign.
“Mom” Directed By: Brian Buckley
“Safe Place” Directed By: Rachel McDonald
“Flex” Directed By: Jim Jenkins
“Video Game” Directed By: Jim Jenkins
“Future Flashes” Directed By: Lloyd Lee Choi
2019 Radio Mercury Award Finalist x4
• ”Born” - (Radio Commercial)
• ”Motown Museum” - (Radio Campaign)
• ”Play Motown” - (Radio Commercial)
• ”Play Motown” - (Creative Use of Sound/Music)
D-Show Awards
• 2019 D-Show — Radio — “Born”
• 2019 D-Show — Radio “Play Motown”
"Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio, a small house located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. The house was purchased by Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1959. Today, the “Hitsville U.S.A” property operates as the Motown Museum, which is dedicated to the legacy of the record label, its artists, and the music that changed the world.
Comm Arts
2022 Public Service — “Play Motown” The Motown Museum in Detroit has long been a staple of Detroit's history and tourism.
During my time at Commonwealth//McCann, we offered them creative ideas as a pro-bono client.
The Challenge
Launch the Ford Explorer in a category stuck in broadcast thinking—where brands talked at people, not with them.
The Insight
People don’t want polished messaging—they want real answers. And they were already starting to ask those questions online.
Instead of controlling the narrative, we saw an opportunity to open it up.
The Idea
We turned the launch into a live, unscripted conversation—inviting consumers to ask anything and responding in real time with custom video content.
Before “always-on” was a thing, we built a system that was—transforming a car launch into something dynamic, participatory, and impossible to ignore.
My Role
Led the creative vision and built the operational model behind it—guiding teams to create, produce, and deploy content at the speed of conversation without losing clarity or craft.
This wasn’t just a campaign—it was a new way of working.
Execution (Before Social Was Everything)
Created and launched 150+ real-time videos in six months, each driven by live consumer questions and distributed across emerging social platforms.
What brands now do every day, we were doing before there was even a playbook.
The Impact
34M+ impressions driven by real-time engagement
+240% increase in incremental reach
Brand loyalty doubled during the campaign
+14% lift in sales tied to launch
Honors and Awards
• D-Show Social Media
• CLIO / Bronze / Radio Campaign
• Radio Mercury Award Winner
The new Chevy Equinox was leaps and bounds ahead of Toyota’s new RAV4 in terms of features. But we didn’t want to just keep telling people about it. It’d be far more compelling if our competitors did the talking for us.
So that’s exactly what we did – without them even knowing. We prank-called real Toyota dealerships around the Midwest, grilled them on the features of the two SUVs, and recorded everything. And while car salesmen in the United States typically have a bad reputation, our prank-call approach finally provided an honest portrayal of the Chevrolet Equinox from its direct competitors – the actual Toyota dealers.
Chevy wanted to get the world excited about their move to EV’s. We started with some modern sculptures to showcase the stylish Blazer EV.
And to show that Equinox EV can do it all we showed it in various landscapes across the US, without ever leaving the stage.
Directed By: Ben Tricklebank
A transition campaign going from “Real People” to work that focused more on what Chevy vehicles can do for you.
These were shot over three months to not only collect content for TVC, but for all other media as well.
Directed By: Rupert Sanders
Shorty Social For Good Finalist
Chevrolet’s role was to work with the American Cancer Society (ACS) to identify a recipient and create a short film of their journey to share as a way to help others struggling with cancer. This film, Hotel Silverado, would recognize a member of the ACS’s “Relay For Life” program in order to spread awareness about the need for cancer patients and their families to build strong support systems.
The short film of the recipient’s journey would be published by the ACS and shared by Chevrolet and their high-visibility partners.
The Hotel Silverado video would go on to receive over 250K views. During the race weekend and into the next week, Chevrolet’s partners: The American Cancer Society, Daytona International Speedway, country music star Luke Bryan and the drivers posted about Joey’s experience 24 times to their social channels.
• 2019 Communication Arts Award of Excellence
• 2019 D-Show Best of Print
Partnering with America’s leading publishers, we took over the covers of nine magazines all at once and created ads tailored to each unique magazine.
HQ Trivia / This app and daily trivia competition is still amassing live audiences bigger than many cable TV networks. For a special Silverado-themed game, HQ Trivia gave away an all-new 2019 Chevy Silverado High Country.
When we rebranded Warrior, we did something they didn't think was possible. Summed up everything they stood for in three words.
That’s when we came up with the “Cross the Line” campaign. And they still continue to use this line years later.
If you had 24 extra hours to do something nice for someone who deserves it, what would you do? We used Leap Day as an opportunity in 2016 to surprise a handful of people who were deserving of a little extra love. The campaign leaped beyond just the one day activation - and turned into a movement for other great moments using #DayItForward - which was the campaign idea and tag I came up with.
