beth
knight

Brand Strategist

Product Launches and Repositioning

Consumer and shopper insights

Semiotic, Cultural and category analysis

REsearch Design and analysis

qualitative and Workshop Facilitation

Cross-functional team leader

Brand and creative strategy grounded in truth and empathy

I love the thrill of solving a challenge. At the heart of this is people and how we can make them feel to move them to action. My career has been driven by this desire to unlock people’s emotions to create meaningful communication and experiences in a world that is more complicated than ever.

As a “big” agency strategist for much of my career, I’m well versed in best-in-class comms planning, research methodologies and data storytelling. My experience with smaller boutique agencies adds the right touch of agility and inventiveness needed for today’s demands. My years as a freelancer injected more confidence and bravery into my work. And most recently, working on the client side, I now have a perspective of the business from all sides of the table.

Collaborating with people is where I excel. I have led and cultivated integrated strategy teams in a diverse range of categories from beverages to male grooming to financial services to pharmaceuticals and health care. Together, we have created effective strategies that move people to action, grow businesses, and have been recognized by the industry.

work of note

Lincoln financial: reframing retirement for a new generation

The Challenge: Today’s 50-63 year-olds are living longer, healthier and happier lives. Many are still in their prime earning years, working with financial planners and saving for retirement. However, the financial services category has it all wrong with imagery out of touch with how our target sees themselves. Pop culture has it right - with leading action stars well into their 50s and 60s (Tom Cruise, Michelle Yeoh, Keanu Reeves) and they have no plans of slowing down. The reality is, for this generation, retirement will look nothing like we’ve seen before.

The Solution: Lincoln Financial challenged the category by focusing on the one question that matters most to this crowd. Not, “will I have enough money to retire?” But rather, “will I have enough money to keep enjoying doing what I love?” We called this category white space the age of action and reframed the retirement conversation, giving financial planners a new, more relevant way to speak to this audience and with it, an opportunity to introduce Lincoln’s broad suite of product offerings. We were successful - the work drove statistically significant lifts in brand familiarity, favorability and purchase intent across five product categories. 

newyork-presbyterian hospital: stay amazing

The Challenge: New York City is home to some of the best hospital systems in the world; so, when there is a hospital around the corner and in every borough that is #1 in something, how do you stand out?

The Solution: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital reframed its decades-long positioning of “Amazing Things Are Happening Here” to “Stay Amazing.” This was a shift from being hospital-centric and touting credentials to being people-centric. We extended the new campaign beyond brand messaging to come to life in patient stories, communities and activation that gave the platform forward momentum and hope that would feel relevant to people’s lives.

Truist: caring people make everything better, even banking

The Challenge: Truist was formed through a merger of two regional banks, Suntrust and BB&T, creating the 6th largest bank in the country. At the heart of this merger is its purpose: to inspire and build better lives and communities by bringing care to banking. However, the idea of care in banking is met with great skepticism as banks might talk about it, but they don’t demonstrate real care for people. A recent GWI survey found that while consumers want help from their banks, more than 54% think they are not receiving it. Our challenge was to establish that Truist is a bank that actively and intentionally cares -- the antidote to the indifference many feel from banks.

The Solution: #DGAF is the name of a store; abcdefu is a viral hit on Tik Tok - not caring has become a celebrated subculture. Yet, we’re living during a time when we need more care than ever. Because caring is an innately human trait, strategically we leaned into Truist Teammates (employees) and created a campaign that demonstrates how they were born to care and what that means in banking. Each spot from brand to product tells a story of how a Teammate “has your back.” The campaign has been their highest scoring work to date and also shows initial in-market effectiveness impacting awareness and consideration.

norelco: creating a new generation of consumers

The Challenge: While Philips Norelco was king of the electric shaving and grooming category, this wasn’t translating to sales growth as the category (and thus Norelco) had been flat for ten years. In order to grow, we had to woo a completely new audience: 18-24 year old men. 

The Solution: We won these guys over by showing them we understood why they groomed, and by speaking to them in a language that no electric tool ever had -- truthfully. This included an uncensored FAQ website that left nothing to the imagination. Not only were we able to sell them on Philips Norelco, but we created a shift in the entire electric shaving and grooming category. Results: Sold out online at Walmart, Target, and Best Buy two weeks after launch and instigated segment growth for the first time in a decade. We received a Bronze Youth Marketing Effie for marketing effectiveness.

SUNtrUST Bank: from financial stress to confidence

Freelance Client: Strategic Planning at StrawberryFrog

The Challenge: According to the Millennial Disruption Index, 71% of Millennials would rather go to their dentist than listen to what banks are saying. In a disliked category, how can we connect with this new generation?

The Solution: Working for Cultural Movement agency StrawberryFrog, we launched a movement that began with acknowledging the amount of financial stress people from all walks of life were feeling. Rather than reinforcing the category conventions of happy retirements and successful college planning, our strategy began by honestly acknowledging how people (Millennials) are feeling today. The work launched on Super Bowl 50 with an accompanying onup.com site where people could join the movement, take a Mental Wealth Survey and learn that they were not alone. The work was awarded by the 2016 Brand Film Festival. In 5 years, more than 5 million people have joined the movement at onup.com. 

Creative Credit: StrawberryFrog

orexo: out the monster

Freelance Client: Strategic Planning at StrawberryFrog

The Challenge: What do women post-Cesearean section have to do with Opioid addiction? They are an example of the millions of "accidental addicts" living amongst us in shame and despair. How can we abolish the "junkie" stereotype so that these people can come out of the dark and be treated respectfully by a doctor?

The Solution:  Zubsolv, prescribed for the treatment of opioid dependence, was launching in a category fraught by governmental regulation and stigmas held so deeply that even doctors didn’t want to treat those afflicted by opioid dependence. With limited funds and unlimited passion, we crafted a story of compassion and hope about “accidental addicts” to abolish the "junkie" stereotype. The strategy created a monster out of the addiction, rather than the individual with the addiction. Zubsolv launched with an unbranded campaign that featured a short film “Out the Monster” and relied heavily on social media as well the distribution of 50,000 hardbound books to doctors and health care providers around the Nation. Earned the 2016 Cannes Gold Lion in Health.  

Creative Credit: StrawberryFrog

bertolli: reigniting brand passion

The Challenge: With a multitude of choices in the Pasta sauce aisle, how could we reignite the passion customers once felt for Bertolli? What made Bertolli more than just another great tasting sauce in a jar?

The Solution: Strategic work leveraged the brand's 150 year heritage and linked it directly to Tuscany, where the brand was born. In partnership with the virtual agency XO, we led strategic and creative development for an IAT of 5+ agencies. Strategy led to creative in multi channels, such as "150 Ways To Bring Tuscany To Your Table" in social media and online as well print work that scored the highest “advertiser noted” measure in Bon Appetit as well as over indexing on brand equity scores post advertising.

Creative Credit: XO, a virtual agency led by executive creative director Jackie Leak.

Brand experience

experience

HAVAS CREATIVE, group strategy director August 2022 - Present

• Managed the largest group (6) of integrated strategists across two agency clients

• Repositioned Lincoln Financial among a soon-to-be-retiring Gen X cohort reframing retirement, shattering category tropes and resulting in statistically significant lifts in brand familiarity, favorability and purchase intent across five product categories

• Drove strategic repositioning of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital across service lines for both DTC and HCP audiences. Work was recognized by the New York Emmys and earned a gold London International Award. Architected new content strategy for the HCP audience and directed the brief for a blood drive activation resulting in a 40% increase in donations

strawberryfrog, group strategy director October 2020 - July 2022

• Strategic lead for Truist Bank; LifeBridge Health; Prudential Financial; and Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group 

• Developed and nurtured the strategy for Truist’s campaign launching its unique “care” positioning, resulting in a 14% increase in Brand Consideration YOY. The first spot of the campaign, “Umbrella,” remains the highest scoring in the brand’s history

• Shaped content for agency thought leadership initiatives such as its Purpose Power Summit, Planet Purpose Podcast and ghost author in Inc.

Executive Planning Director, Tracylocke October 2019 - October 2020 (Covid)

• Led the Wilton and NYC strategy team of 5 across all clients: Diageo (10 brands), PepsiCo (four lines of businesses across the portfolio), Godiva (AOR), HP (three lines of business), SodaStream, Royal Canin, and Quinnipiac University (AOR)

• Elevated strategic deliverables to ensure effective and motivating insights grounded in qualitative and/or quantitative data

• Demonstrated empathetic and steady leadership during the initial months of Covid

bkurious, Independent Consultant February 2014 - September 2019

• Independent consultant specializing in product repositioning and launches; workshop facilitation among client teams; and qualitative design, moderation and analysis

• Clients included national food and beverage brands (Bertolli, Ferrero Rocher, Pure Protein, Bakkavor); "big Pharma" brands (Orexo, Pfizer, KedRab); grassroots community organizations (YMCA); a regional financial institution (SunTrust Bank) and a national life insurance company (Gerber Life)

• Work of note: Brand Film Festival, SunTrust Bank for “ONUP;” Gold Cannes Lions for Orexo’s “Out the Monster;” and scored the highest “advertiser noted” measure in Bon Appetit as well as over indexing on brand equity scores post advertising for Bertolli

SVP Managing Director of Strategy and Innovation, The family room

• Directed a group of strategists and researchers to develop innovation strategies for a number of clients, including Campbell’s Soup Company, General Mills, Tyson’s, and Dairy Management

• Included facilitating innovation “hot houses” based in demand moments to generate new product territories for R&D and positioning

Senior Partner, Strategic Planning Director, Ogilvy 

• Architected the Effie-winning strategy for Philips Norelco, repositioning the electric razor from being just as good as a blade to being a better grooming experiencing with the “turn it on” provocative strategy. Two weeks after the campaign launched, it sold out online at Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, instigating segment growth for the first time in a decade

• Managed 7 global strategists on Avon and was part of the pilot group trained in Fusion, the agency’s proprietary communications planning process

Previous Experience

SVP, Strategic Planning Director, TracyLocke

SVP, Strategic Planning Director, publicis

Associate Partner, Brand Planner, Y&R, New York, NY

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