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MARKETING'S SECRET SAUCE
Hello,
I'm Michelle Heffner.
Is your marketing missing the mark? Do your ideas lack boldness? Are your results falling short? I can help.
I am a hands-on marketer who brings the secret sauce — a unique blend of distinctive creativity driven by data-guided strategy — which results in innovative marketing strategies that boost bottom lines.
ABOUT ME
I am a seasoned marketing professional who helps companies adopt and implement an integrated marketing approach to achieve strategic business objectives. Throughout the course of my marketing career, I’ve worked with some terrific global brands, both consumer and B2B.
Long story short: I love what I do. My most recent gig was dragging my company’s go-to-market strategy kicking and screaming into the 21st century. And that’s what I have spent much of my career doing — modernizing marketing and marketing operations with appropriate technology implemented to achieve strategic outcomes.
RESUME
I’ve been developing my secret sauce for years,
working to build some of the world’s top brands.
If you want the details, request my resume.
- Brand Strategy
- Strategic Planning
- Global Digital Strategy
- Social Media
- Creative Thinker
- Problem Solver
- Global Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Team Builder
- Governance
- Lead Gen/Demand Gen
- Customer-Centric
- Mentor/Coach
What my resume doesn’t include is the myriad of soft skills and personality I bring to the table such as my ability to build teams, my expertise at forging relationships, or my saucy attitude. But if you’ve read this far I’ll give you this morsel for free: chippy ice is the key to crafting a superior cocktail.
PORTFOLIO
My Expertise
Looking back on my career to date, I wouldn’t change a thing. I have worked for great brands and with terrific people from whom I’ve learned a lot. Below is a representation of projects I am most proud of.
Inspired Engagement
PODCAST CREATION
On my continuing quest to modernize our channel leadership and engage audiences, this year I launched my company’s first external podcast, “Minds Over Materials”. I wanted to give our subject matter experts a new, more engaging platform to showcase the incredible work they do. I am a production studio of one, doing everything from planning, scripting and production, to distribution and promotion. And speaking of studios, I was part of a small team that actually created an in-house studio with full multi-media production capabilities.
Other platform development projects:
- Websites - creation, development, analytics, SEO, project management and more
- Social Media - training, scaling, incident handling, publishing, policy writing, etc.
- Internal Communications - campaigns, newsletters, day-to-day employee comms
- Community Building - Duck Tape Club, ICYMI newsletter, both programs created brand evangelists/ambassadors
Innovative Marketing
CORPORATE REBRANDING
Nothing like a global pandemic to give one the time to redecorate! I launched the first rebranding of my company in nearly a decade. I shared my vision, concepts, and strategy for the brand with a designer, and in a few short months we had a 54 page brand guide with over 50 new assets — and integrated the brand from a company we acquired in 2020. This included doing internal and external stakeholder research in multiple languages, presenting recommendations to company executives, and creating detailed communications plans for executing and brand identity creation.
Other marketing experience includes:
- Events - trade shows, global sales conferences, virtual
- Market Research
- Persona Development
- Sales Support
- HR Marketing - WorkDay campaigns, web marketing, social media recruiting
- Investor Relations Marketing - Board of Directors decks, annual reports, web content
- Content Marketing
- Content Creation
- Campaigns
Scalable Excellence
AUTHORED AND PRODUCED PLAYBOOKS
Our global communications team was growing fast in 2019, not only in head count, but in the breadth of work we were delivering. I saw the need for guidance on several topics that would assist in onboarding new members and keep our global matrixed team operating on one set of instructions. To date I have authored eight playbooks. It’s not sexy, but it is one of the most useful and highest payback projects I continue to expand, as our business evolves and our department’s footprint grows.
- Brand governance
- Legal/Policy Writing/IP: Trademarks, Copyrights
- Globalization - WeChat, translations, scaling
- Martech Planning - CRM, Marketing Automation, Web CMS, Integrations, E-commerce
Bold (and Saucy) Ideas
DUCK TAPE® STUCK AT PROM® PROMOTION
Climb aboard the Wayback Machine...I had just transitioned from leading the Consumer Relations department to creating the company’s first websites, one of which was The Duck Tape Club®, an online community of duct tape enthusiasts where I would post user generated content (UGC) and and create original branded content.
The marketing team wanted to create some unique promotions that really leveraged consumer enthusiasm for the product and brand. Based on my years talking with consumers, and more recently building an online community of duct tape devotees, I came up with three ideas based on the creative uses our customers were already using the product for: Rock About the Roll, Stuck In Traffic, and Stuck at Prom. All three launched, but only one continues to this day: Stuck at Prom — 21 years later and old enough to buy beer.
Bold (and Saucy) Ideas
ICYMI WEEKLY EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER
I was disappointed at the level of engagement our social posts were getting from employees. I needed to figure out how to engage and activate our 3,000+ person global employee base and turn them into brand ambassadors. I drafted a newsletter unlike anything previously sent out - the look, the tone, the topic - all new, all different and fun with a capital “F”! Needless to say, every week I continue to write and publish the ICYMI newsletter. So far, our net audience growth from this newsletter is over 20% since its launch less than a year ago.
Sauce Addicts
TESTIMONIALS
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Tracey Bradnan - Marketing Strategist at The University of Texas at AustinList Item 2
"Michelle Heffner is a marketing powerhouse. She has been my go-to colleague for more than 20 years, because I know Michelle stays at the cutting edge of developments in marketing, digital communications, and strategic thinking. Her creativity, work ethic, and desire to continually learn, improve, and innovate always set her apart from the marketing crowd."
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Mark Crowley - President at Lake Catholic High SchoolList Item 1
"Astute collaborative marketing strategist
I love the three words in Michelle‘s self description – astute, collaborative and strategic.
I had the opportunity to witness all of them in action.
Perhaps what’s most important is how these potentially conflicting attributes blend together quite harmoniously with Michelle.
That’s possible because she leads with collaboration in her conversations, asks questions instead of providing comments/directives. As a result, the thoughts of the entire team are drawn out for the benefit of the organization.
Also, Michelle is a blast to work with. While she does take her job very seriously, the good news is she does not take herself too seriously. It all adds up to a focused, intelligent and productive business partner."
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Bob Davidson President - Exhibits And MoreList Item 3
"Professional, funny, down-to-earth, no BS. Michelle has been a trusted partner for many years. Her expertise is unquestionable, and her willingness to listen to new ideas is a breath of fresh air. An absolute pleasure to work with."
