Creative Direction · Brand Strategy · Team Leadership
Hyve operates a global portfolio of B2B events, including Shoptalk, a $41.2M revenue-generating platform connecting enterprise brands, retailers, and technology platforms. These events serve as both revenue-driving marketplaces and brand ecosystems, requiring cohesive experiences across marketing, physical environments, and brand activations.
As the senior creative leader, I built the creative strategy function from the ground up to support Hyve's international growth, developing both the team capability and the strategic frameworks required to scale the brand across New York, London, Barcelona, Las Vegas, and Abu Dhabi.
The mandate was not simply to extend a single brand system globally, but to translate it with enough cultural and market specificity to feel locally relevant while preserving a coherent premium identity across the portfolio. This required aligning brand strategy, experience design, and operating processes to support growth, strengthen sponsor value, and deliver consistent audience experiences at scale.
Marketing, sponsorship, and on-site experiences operated in silos, leading to fragmented storytelling and disconnected attendee journeys. While substantial data existed across ticketing, sponsorship, and engagement, it was not effectively translated into actionable creative strategy. At the same time, increasing sponsor demand created pressure to scale visibility without compromising the attendee experience, while expansion across multiple markets added complexity in balancing global consistency with local relevance. Creative was typically engaged downstream, limiting its ability to shape strategic direction and influence commercial outcomes.
I addressed these challenges by building a creative strategy function grounded in insight, data, and cross-channel thinking. I partnered with marketing, commercial, and analytics teams to synthesize customer behavior, category trends, and engagement data into actionable insights, translating them into clear, compelling creative briefs that aligned stakeholders and inspired execution. I defined flexible creative territories that could scale across markets and touchpoints, while mapping end-to-end attendee and sponsor journeys to ensure more connected, cohesive experiences. In parallel, I established cross-functional workflows and planning cadences, repositioning creative as an upstream strategic partner influencing campaign direction, experience design, and long-term growth strategy.
I hired, structured, and developed a team of 7 creatives across New York and London, growing the department from a 2-person startup team following Hyve's $145M acquisition. My focus was not just on output but on elevating the quality of strategic thinking across the team, building repeatable frameworks, raising the bar on brief quality, and coaching individuals to operate at a more senior, strategic level. I also managed agency and vendor partnerships worldwide, ensuring consistent standards and creative alignment across every market.
Delivered a connected end-to-end experience for 9,330 delegates representing 1,000+ unique organizations (including Mars Wrigley, L'Oreal, and Ulta), resulting in 46,442 completed meetings, up 10% year over year, and an NPS of +42.
Grew retailer and brand attendance 10% year over year, with 69% of those attendees net new to Shoptalk. That figure reflects something specific: creative and marketing were successfully reaching and converting new audiences, not just retaining existing ones. New audience acquisition at this scale is a consumer behavior outcome, driven by brand clarity, targeted messaging, and a compelling experience proposition.
Elevated creative from executional support to strategic growth driver, contributing to a portfolio that reached 773 sponsors and $41.2M in revenue. New programming including Shoptalk TV sponsored by Meta, a sold-out Emporium with 50 brands, and two new show announcements reflected creative's expanded role in shaping the product itself, not just packaging it.