Turning a $5M PR Liability into a Global Cultural Asset.

At the 2014 Chevy Awards ceremony, a brand manager fumbled his product talking points live on stage and accidentally said "technology and stuff" in front of a national audience. Within hours, it was everywhere. The internet had a new villain.

Most brands would have gone dark, issued a statement, and waited for it to blow over.

We did the opposite.

Within 48 hours, I led a team that turned the gaffe into a fully deployed cultural campaign branded hashtag, social content, real-time media buys, and a narrative that reframed the moment from embarrassing slip to genuine brand personality. We didn't apologize for the human moment. We owned it.

The insight was simple: the internet wasn't laughing at Chevy it was paying attention to Chevy. That's the rarest thing a brand can have. The question was whether we had the speed and conviction to convert attention into something lasting.

We did.

67M+ organic impressions. No paid media required to start the fire only to sustain it. The campaign became a textbook case study in real-time creative leadership: the kind of work that only happens when a team has been trained to move fast without losing creative judgment.

This is the piece I'm most proud of; not because of the awards, but because of the decision. In a moment of crisis, we chose boldness. That choice is replicable. That's what I build teams to do.

Honors and Awards: Cannes Lions Gold / Rapid Response · Cannes Lions Silver / PR Crisis · Cannes Lions Bronze / Media · Clios Gold / Integrated · One Show / Interactive & Integrated · D&AD Wood Pencil / PR Best Response

Press: AutoWeek · Sports Illustrated · USA Today · CNN · LinkedIn