Stefanie King

Allergan created a first-of-its-kind eye drop in the U.S. to help treat Dry Eye. It was kind of a big deal. So naturally, they wanted everyone, especially eye doctors, to know. Our agency helped them create various marcom elements to raise awareness before and after the product hit the shelves. 

I led the writing efforts from concepting to execution across a variety of mediums, including developing copy for the product packaging and insert, a leavebehind for eye care professionals, convention videos, banner ads, Facebook messaging, an FSI, a journal ad, catalina coupons, eblasts, sampling letter and package wrap, updates to the REFRESH brand website, and helping develop the storefront for Amazon.com.  

The client was so pleased by the work that they told our account lead that the leavebehind would be placed in the Allergan hall of fame. 

I heart strategy. For real. And I feel like every creative should. Beautifully crafted copy and showstopping design are great, but when they’re made with purpose—rooted in human truth and insights—they’re transformative. To me, finding that sweet spot is not only fun, it’s how it should be. And I’m super proud of the strategy work I led to launch a new personal banking product suite for SunTrust Bank (now Truist).

I started by doing some high-level research to better understand the competitive landscape and consumer mindset. Then I turned what I found into a unique story for how SunTrust and its new products could genuinely fit into the lives of the people it was targeting. The team and I sold it in and worked together to activate it across mediums and markets. It became a standard of excellence for the bank.

FleishmanHillard (FH) is a well-known and trusted name in global communications. An innovative, creative, bold, smart partner to clients around the world. But that wasn’t the story its global website told.

Together, FH’s external comms lead, a third-party UX/UI team based in Costa Rica (Hangar) and I spearheaded the massive undertaking that was the 360-refresh of FH’s global website.

During the Pre-work Phase I…

Handled the competitive analysis and digital footprint audit, and presented both to the third-party UX team to help them understand FH’s top competition and the significance, function and presence of FH’s online properties.

Developed a deck about FH's brand philosophy (where it’s been and where it’s going) to help the UX/UI team understand values and priorities.

Participated in design thinking and user-journey mapping sessions—identifying pain points, setting benchmarks, creating a roadmap and a unified vision, uncovering opportunities and enhancements in the experience, and understanding the various users and their behaviors.

During the Execution Phase I…

Worked closely with Hangar to deliver a high-quality user experience, including streamlining the sitemap and supporting content architecture and hierarchy development where needed.

Co-presented website progress to internal stakeholders ensuring leaders were up to speed and comfortable with the strategy and general direction.

Defined the brand voice for the global network and applied it throughout—serving as the sole writer on the project.

Determined the strategic copy approach for how FH’s work gets represented in case studies on the site and led the charge on bringing them to life—gathering assets, securing account team and client approvals, working with video editors to create and cut footage and building basic images when necessary.

Worked one-on-one with the agency’s subject matter experts to ensure each group was well-represented.

For Launch and Post-launch I…

Learned how the backend of the site works and became a core member of the team responsible for building pages and inputting information in the system.

Selected strategic keywords and wrote meta data for all new pages (everything outside of newsroom content).

Penned a creative thought leadership piece for the company Intranet to align everyone under the importance of impact in client work and how through impact we can tell the story of FH’s expertise.

Continue to source and develop additional case studies to keep content fresh on the site. And update page copy and UX when and where necessary.

Ghirardelli had experienced success with a sweepstakes for its SQUARES product. So they turned to us for a year-two iteration that would not only drive more SQUARES purchases and brand engagement, but also build brand equity and make women nationwide feel special because of Ghirardelli. 

Our guiding insight: Women use chocolate as a reward, especially to elevate an enjoyable moment they are already having. 

Our solution: The My Pleasure Squared Sweepstakes.

As part of the program execution, I wrote a promotional website that served as the hub for all sweeps-related things and a secondary destination for product promotion. We asked consumers to tell us how SQUARES made their everyday moments better and included a feature wall where submissions were displayed using the beautiful SQUARES brand jewel tones. The site also included an interactive map for consumers to follow where the SQUARES sampling tour was headed next. To help make their interaction with Ghirardelli more rewarding, we featured a “sweet site of the day” to connect consumers with other things (i.e., fashion, home décor, high-end crafts, gourmet food, etc.) that they might consider an “everyday pleasure” and therefore want to pair with their SQUARE. 

To support the online experience and nationwide sampling tour, I also wrote copy for a handful of in-store and online elements (shipper displays, a sampling guide, coupons, banner ads, email communications, etc.) to help raise awareness of the sweeps, drive traffic to the microsite and ultimately encourage purchase. 

In looking for ways to innovate, expand revenue and close the purchasing gap with consumers, Allergan decided to create a dual-purpose direct-to-consumer site to sell Refresh brand products. The vision was to have a version that eye care professionals could "brand" and share with their patients, as well as a doctor-agnostic version that consumers could reach on their own. Either way, the site was to be referred to as REFRESH Direct eCommerce.

Our agency teamed up with external UX designers and developers to bring the request to life.

I worked closely with the client and account service teams to determine the best ways to communicate the new doctor-driven offering pre- and post-launch, then wrote all site copy for the soft launch. I also wrote and supervised the execution of all Refresh eCommerce communications, including banner ads, social posts, journal ads, trade show messaging, eblasts and more—cross-promoting with product launches and news and leveraging existing data bases to reach doctors nationwide.

Dunkin’ Donuts wanted to encourage consumer trial of grocery store coffee in West Coast markets. They knew the locals had uniquely high standards for coffee, but they also knew that Dunkin’ could live up to those standards. They needed to grab consumers’ attention and make them consider Dunkin’ for their at-home coffee arsenal. 

My concept for our solution was the “How You Brewin’?” campaign, which leveraged the quirky Dunkin’ personality in store, OOH and online with messaging that used coffee-related pick-up lines to not only stop consumers in their tracks, but get them to take home a bag of Dunkin’. 

When SunTrust (now Truist) acquired online lender FirstAgain, they contacted their agency partners to help make their new asset feel like part of the SunTrust brand. FirstAgain needed a new name and a new look. But more than that, it needed help developing and maintaining a brand voice that felt like its own, while still fitting into the brand identity of its new parent company. 

A small team of us explored new names that would define the product as a member of the SunTrust portfolio and fit with its digital existence. Among them was “LightStream,” which SunTrust ultimately chose. The word “light” offered a bit of SunTrust equity, while the word “stream” played into the fast and easy nature of the digital product.

From there, we collaborated with the bank’s other agency partners to find the right voice for the product. SunTrust was, and remains, primarily known for customer service and client relationships. It has a small-town approach with big-bank capabilities.

Applying those characteristics to a product that lives only in the digital space was tricky because the responsibility and action required to get a loan lies solely with the consumer. It’s an online-only product, so customer service and relationship building doesn’t exist in the same ways that it does in the branch. Therefore, the messaging approach played into a different level of satisfaction and service—one that makes sense for a direct-to-consumer product like online lending. Service became about fast, easy applications and payouts, as well as virtually endless loan options. The tone of voice took a slightly playful and modern approach to match the attitude of digital savvy consumers, while still conveying a client-first attitude. 

I collaborated to promote LightStream across a variety of mediums, including banner ads for the unauthenticated space and real-time offers and splash pages for the authenticated space; integrating product details and offerings into the master SunTrust website, while being mindful that LightStream would always exist and function on its own separate site; and communicating LightStream offerings in-branch during quarterly programs. 

The work shown here is a smattering of LightStream communications pieces that I worked on over the years.

SunTrust Bank wanted to re-strategize and re-launch its ATM with Teller Connect offering. The product had existed for years with very little engagement or awareness. With this re-launch, SunTrust wanted to make sure consumers knew that their ATM with Teller Connect machines could actually connect them to a live teller for assistance and that it offered extended hours, too. While pushing those features, they didn’t want to downplay the fact that the machine could still function as an ATM 24/7. 

I led the strategy, development and execution of all campaign elements including the hero online infotainment video, a handful of marcomm pieces (i.e., buckslips, machine signage and island merchandisers in the bank drive thru) and a new page on suntrust.com.

Refresh needed five different package concepts and messaging hierarchies needed to be developed for consumer testing. We knew the original look would make it into the mix, as well as a design they started to transition to before a new Product Manager came on board. Our objective was to fill the other three spots with testably-different options that not only looked different, but also featured alternate communications approaches, unique product segmentations, and Refresh logo explorations. 

I led the project start to finish. Strategizing and exploring unique copy structures and portfolio segmentations. Concepting looks and logo evolutions. And directing a team of designers to bring it all to life. I worked closely with account leaders to refine options and other presentation details, managed feedback for all four art directors, and helped keep the team and the project organized throughout. 

We presented the first round to the client in person. Ultimately, an iteration of the “blue wave” concept was chosen.

Every year as part of UPS’ sports sponsorship efforts, the company hosts hospitality events for their small business customers at college football bowl games. I was in charge of bringing an event space (and weekend activities) to life for the National Championship Bowl Game in Tampa Bay, Florida. 

I created a thematic for the hospitality event, including a name for the space (The UPS Archives), developed on-premise signage, wrote copy for gift cards and itineraries, and worked with internal account executives to determine additional activities and gifts for attendees. 

The overall goal was to deepen the relationship between UPS and small business owners, making them feel appreciated for their business. But it was also important to showcase UPS expertise and capabilities while also tying into the venue, the city and football. 

There are client work award submissions and then there are agency of the year award submissions. The latter is essentially a one-off campaign for the agency, heroing it’s most notable 12-month accomplishments.

The submissions require strategic concepting, creative direction, video production and scriptwriting, as well as teamwork and collaboration across offices and time zones. Sometimes even around the world.

It’s intense and super fun.

Since joining FleishmanHillard, award submission creation has been one of my main hustles. And in my few years with the firm, I’ve helped secure dozens of wins and even more finalist nods—generating about an 80% overall win-rate and an even higher finalist rate.

As an award-writing expert, I also proactively developed and co-presented a training for all FleishmanHillard employees across the Americas, APAC and EMEA, unifying the network in process and vision and helping take entries for client work to the next level around the world.

Note: Written entries and videos created for agency awards cannot be shared here because they contain proprietary and confidential information for FleishmanHillard.

While freelancing, I got pulled onto a pitch for Monsanto Genuity and came up with the idea to treat Monsanto’s Genuity like the ingredient that turns seeds into superheroes. While presenting this work internally to the team, the feedback was that my work was “fearless.” And they wanted to include it as one of the concepts in our pitch presentation.

In the end, we won the business. My concept wasn’t chosen by the client. But this experience set the tone for my career, continually serving as a reminder to go all out in everything I do—to push boundaries and be bold enough to take the work outside of what’s expected.

One of my favorite parts of advertising is taking something very technical or tedious, and finding a creative way to tell its story. This work is a great example.

Novus International asked us for help concepting and executing creative they could use to sell in their DHA-enriched chicken eggs to Panera Bread. They knew Panera’s position in the market was primarily based on fresh, clean, good-for-you food. They also knew their DHA-enriched eggs were a perfect fit for that. They just needed to show Panera how they could tell that story to their in-restaurant customers. 

I took the challenge and ran with it. Here’s one of my favorite pieces from the mix.

Smucker’s asked us to help them get more people to use their jams, jellies and preserves (JJP). And they wanted to focus less on mealtimes and more on snacks—with the emphasis on simple pairings or minimal ingredient recipes. 

So, instead of pushing recipes on consumers and hoping it was something that interested them, I suggested we take the data that our agency had about the other items in consumers’ grocery carts and show them how JJP could fit with those foods. In order to make it super relevant and fun for the category, I adapted a familiar, successful campaign that had been released a few years earlier. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. 

I always wanted to write children’s books, and in 2013, I finally went for it. A co-worker at the time tried to make a bean bag dog for her kids, but it ended up looking like an adorable, catawampus bunny instead. She named her creation “Bunnywampus” and asked me to write a story to go with him. So I did, and I titled the 28-page book Bunnywampus and the Toymaker. 

She left the company not long after she finished illustrating my story, but we stayed in touch. No matter how much time passed, Bunnywampus was always on both of our minds. We made a few tweaks over the years, but it wasn’t until November 2017 that we finally decided to publish. As it turned out, her mistake led to something pretty awesome for the both of us.

Bunnywampus and the Toymaker is now available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and more.

The second book in the series, Bunnywampus and the Bully, was released in 2020 and is available on the same channels.

Of course, sales are great, but the best part about them is knowing that we’ve shared love with so many kids.