Yes, I worked at a company called Cat Person.
Cat Person is a direct-to-consumer startup incubated by Harry’s Inc. I joined the team as Creative Director/Head of Creative for Growth and Brand, 6 weeks before our March 2020 launch date. My task was simple: build a brand people love and create effective growth marketing that drove sales. Within the first six weeks, I wrote and led content development for Launch and Welcome Series Email campaigns, launched our Social Media content strategy, wrote the landing page copy and developed an OOH launch campaign. Then COVID hit.
Matching Hoodies
We scrapped our OOH launch campaign and pivoted to a social-first brand launch: matching cat and Cat Person hoodies for influencers and early adopters to show off their Cat Person pride—and our brand name.
BRAND
Cat Dad Week
To help redefine the modern day Cat Person and attract more men and their murses, we created “Cat Dad Week.” (Like Shark Week, but cat dads.) Each day on Social we celebrated a different type of Cat Dad, culminating in a film built on the truth: sometimes you aren’t a cat person until you get one. The film launched on Father’s Day, further legitimizing the relationship dudes feel with their felines and earned a hefty organic YouTube view count. We wrote the score with Butter Music and set it to UGC of men and their cats.
BRAND
Holiday 2020
Due to the high demand for our matching hoodies, we gave the people what they asked for and made them available to purchase as part of our first Holiday Shop. We also designed and produced other unique gifts like our Catnip Tea for 2, best enjoyed with your main cat squeeze.
BRAND
Jason Wu X Cat Person
In fall 2021, we designed a new product line, including a litter box and scoop together with fashion designer and cat person, Jason Wu. Even when we partnered with minimalist fashionistas, we kept our Cat Person swagger by launching Haute CATure. We promoted the collection with OOH and a capsule launch film. We made the entire 360 campaign in-house with freelance support.
BRAND
Performance Marketing
While Brand work is where I spent the bulk of my career, 80% of my three years at Cat Person was spent Creative Directing, writing and producing content and assets for Performance Marketing, including acquisition video ads and stills, unique Landing Pages, Email Marketing, and Direct Mail. It was a steep learning curve. Not just because the performance marketing machine was a new medium for me, but the launch and learn approach tested my idea of what “great” work is. By the end, I came to embrace the Minimal Viable Product approach that defines Growth Marketing at Harry’s and was able to defend the brand by developing a practical set of objective Growth Brand Guidelines. Here are a few examples of the direct marketing executions I oversaw at Cat Person.
PERFORMANCE
Email Marketing
Evergreen direct mail
Credits
As Head of Creative, I was in charge of hiring and managing all Creative Department talent. I love these people a ridiculous amount. Fostering their inner tabby cats was the highlight of my job.
Designer: Jahan Hashemi
Designer: Jasmine Zhang
Copywriter: Andrea Rose
PMs: Areta Gjicali, Theresa Liliebird
I am grateful to the amazing freelancers who partnered with us during my time at Cat Person. Specifically:
Social & Photo Director: Anna McKenzie
Email Designer: McKenna Houge
CW/AD: Mary Daughterman (Cat Dads, Holiday 2020 Photo Direction)
CDs: January Stell and Scott Ginsberg (Jason Wu Campaign)
Producers: Kim Cross (Cat Dads) Katherine Cheng & Jennifer Moore Bell (Jason Wu)
Production Advisor: Niki Polyocan
Producer and Photo Rep: Emily Heller & Jellybean Studios (Holiday 2020 & Growth Video Shoots)