mandi thacker
create, design, inspire

Creative Marketing Manager – The Rost Group

August 2016 to Present

The Rost Group is a real estate company focused on client experience, from luxury and family homes to investors and relocation services. In the Marketing Manager role I manage the brand, art direct, design, and write for print and digital spaces—including the website, blog posts, social media, ads, video and more. I also plan all of the marketing each year, including the social media calendar and event planning.

 

Brand Management & Design

• Brand credibility across online platforms, including my high quality information, designs, and videos were frequently mentioned by new clients as the reason for choosing our group over others

• Designed the all new logos and signage with an email and social media teaser marketing campaign

• Unified the look and feel across all mediums for a strong brand presence though design and planning of all digital & print items

• Increased visibility and value through a website redesign, successfully executed ad campaigns, and visually consistent social media posts 

 

Digital Marketing & Design

• Redesigned the company website with new images & icons, high quality blog posts, a relocation section, and improved SEO & meta data

• Website traffic increased from dozens of views per day, to as high as 1,962 views per day after completing the redesign

• Increased reviews across multiple platforms by 50% through a coordinated print, text, email, social media, and website strategy

• Began a monthly email newsletter; combining eye-catching, trendy articles with statistics to improve traffic to blog posts by 155% 

• Saw a nearly 300% increase in Facebook followers by implementing strategies such as increased video usage and employee invites

• Standardized the layout and functionality of company mass emails and email signatures through new templated designs ​

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Client Relations & Event Planning

• Created specialized marketing information and decks to present to and collaborate with high profile investors

• Improved client retention and referrals with branded client gifts and coordinating designed inserts that set us above the competition

• Designed custom invitations, coordinated with social media, and signage, while managing and planning all vendors & event aspects

• Coordinated yearly local community service and event donation programs, including an online donation site

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Studio Art Director – Hallmark Cards, Inc.

February 2011 to April 2016

Hallmark is a company focused on improving connections between people with meaningful, trend-forward products. As an Art Director at Hallmark, I worked on Christmas boxed cards, gift wrap, gifts, and stationery. This work in mass channel commercialization involved presenting and selling the product to retail chain Buyers each season, as retail and e-commerce space in these categories was never guaranteed.

 

Business Success  

• Landed new business with Costco in the US, Canada, Spain, & UK; totaling over $20M in revenue, and gained a 10% category growth

• Earned 100% of Canada’s largest retailer’s private label boxed card business, resulting in a 400% increase from the previous year

• Gained business for the first time with trend forward, custom boxed cards & gift wrap in the largest grocery chain in Canada

• Increased boxed card units sold by 4% in Walgreens, and maintained units sold in CVS, despite declining industry sales in the category

 

Product & Team Management 

• Presented product and market data in US & Canadian sales meetings to Buyers from mass retail stores such as Costco, Sam’s Club, Target, Kohl‘s, TJX, CVS, Walgreens, Loblaw, and Kroger

• Management of numerous product lines with tight deadlines for mass retailers, pharmacy chains, grocery chains, and club stores

• Won accounts each year with our traditional standard line and by creating additional customized innovative product for each retailer

• Directed, managed, and inspired teams of 4-15 designers in a fast-paced environment, while meeting company goals, within budget

• Researched and evaluated best practices for product production in US and Asia via monthly calls with our partners in China

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Marketing & Research

• Conducted market research and analysis, and studied trends for upcoming product lines, creating trend boards for the team and Buyers

• Coordinated design with sales data to ensure the strongest possible product

• Collaborated with editorial partners and management on strategy, vision, and business objectives

• Interacted with and presented to management, sales, and internal teams in both small settings and town halls 

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Designer – Hallmark Cards, Inc.

May 2004 to January 2011

As a Designer, I started in season cards, working my way up to Lead Designer, then Art Director rotations. Custom Printing is a line of customizable cards & invitations printed on demand in stores. Hallmark Business Connections sells customizable cards as marketing tools to outside businesses.

 

Hallmark Business Connections – Art Direction & Design

• Designed cards and B2B marketing materials for external clients such as State Farm and individually owned Gold Crown stores

• Chosen to create the set of branded cards that our internal team used in a four-stage program to onboard and thank all new clients

• Created marketing tools for Hallmark Gold Crown stores that explained the program, including style guides for print and the website

 

Gold Crown Retail, Custom Printing – Art Direction & Design

• Created product lines that increased sales by 15.5% to plan, by creating a unifying style and color palettes for retail coordination

• Directed a team of 3, working with internal partners and external vendors on highly technical product that had to work easily in stores

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Season Cards – Team Lead & Design

• Won Hallmark Process Enhancement Award, led brainstorms, and was chosen for leadership training

• Designed holiday end of aisle card sets for the Walmart Buyer, and consistently won new business in highly competitive retail space

• Taught work flow and technical classes to designers, lettering artists, and production artists utilizing InDesign, Photoshop & Illustrator​