Make the Connection

In this increasingly chaotic media landscape, you want to connect with your audience, as a parent, a neighbor, a friend, an ally, or simply a fellow human being.

I always challenge myself to be tough, as a writer, an editor, a producer, a planner or a publisher. I want to make sure that, on the other side of the screen, my audience connect with a story in a matter of seconds and stay engaged throughout their reading, watching or listening journey.

Also think multi-channel. As one of my favorite campaigns below suggests, sometimes one platform or message doesn't do the magic. It takes an Instagram post for Elizabeth to believe her husband when told about a new paid parental leave policy.

“I thought it was a joke at first. Don't toy with me. Be serious. ... Then I saw the post on TD's instagram account and now I believed it. I almost cried tears of joy.”

“I want to thank you Ned for sharing your story of coming out. ... I shared it with my nephew who is also in the community and he felt so encouraged and inspired.”

“When I learned that TD was donating flowers to cemeteries across our footprint during the Memorial Day, I was really touched... I am lucky to be able to help my kids when they grow up.”

As a Canadian bank, parental leave benefits are among the cultural signatures. It was a big deal to introduce a 16-week paid parental leave policy to TD's U.S. operations. We wanted to roll out the communications in the most exciting and comprehensive way on all internal and external channels, meetings, and social media as well. We'd love to excite all employees, their families, and also help attract prospect talent in the years ahead.
This was a radical step up in the benefits offering as an employer. There were not only a lot of logistical nuances and procedures to communicate about when it came to the intake and execution of the policy. We also needed to let family members of employees know that this was real and it was an "industry-leading" program in terms of the amount of time they got to bond with a newborn, an adopted baby or surrogate child in case of a same-sex couple. We needed to cover all the questions and doubts.
Of course, we put out messages from the CEO and Head of HR to show their excitement of this offering. We also spent months conducting a market survey about why a parental leave policy is a sought-after benefit for employees, especially the millennial demographic. At the same time, I led the charge to work with our HR partners to identify and vet a long list of potential candidates who might be taking the leave and finding the best time to go talk to them or film their experiences to feature in video and other types of stories. As a large organization, there's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to an all-encompassing communications campaign. There were thousands of employees on the frontlines serving retail clients in the branches who might not have the luxury to sit down for a long stretch of time reading something. So we drafted talking points for branch managers to effectively spread the message to their teams in person. We also worked out a list of frequently asked questions for potential beneficiaries to think about when it came time to talk to their managers or HR about eligibility, timing, and other logistics while preparing for the arrival of a new family member and taking time away from work.
It was easily the most beloved communications campaign that I had the pleasure of working with. The reach was off the charts both on internal and external channels. We also got over a dozen pages of comments, with many employees who shed tears expressing gratitude for such a caring policy even though they wouldn't be able to take advantage of it. It was THE topic for all kinds of meetings, events and online chatter for months. The morale of the whole organization was through the roof.

Also, one of the videos I did, below, became a most popular item for everyone, getting raving reviews on the intranet, social media, embedded in team meetings and presentations, and across digital signage in various buildings. My HR partners also kept it handy and reposted it a few months afterwards during the World Parents Day on their LinkedIn page and collected another 180,000 views with just a couple of clicks.

Making the Connection

The quote from the mother after she learned about the sky high suicide rates for transgender youth has stuck with me to this day. The numbers awakened her to the brutal reality she was dealing with and made her a much more involved advocate for her then-son, now trans-daughter. When I was talking to her on camera, she immediately connected with me, as a parent. Deep inside, I was applauding for her strength and support she was giving to her daughter, sitting by her side.

I was also privileged to talk to some executives and colleagues who were present at the conference, volunteering or standing up booths to share their experiences as a member in the community at a workplace to the teens and youths. Some had children also in the community and they were here not only to give support, but also to gain inspiration and build community as they were navigating through this journey with their loved ones. After all, we are all a village helping one another. I was sure this story would resonate with a lot of my colleagues, and sure it did.

Channels: intranet, digital signage, social media, presentations and networking events.

I led the coverage of rolling community investments as part of TD's Ready Commitment. Print stories, videos, social posts and conference materials were created to align all content to the enterprise-wide philanthropical initiative.

Since the summer of 2019, over 1,000 Kensington residents have visited the CoLab mobile van. The trailer has hosted numerous medical screenings in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia for high blood pressure and HIV, and activities such as story time for kids and nutrition demonstrations such as...

Rooted in the Community

It was always rewarding to visit local communities and learn about how TD was helping community organizations come up with innovative solutions to help their members with health, housing and a host of issues. This mobile trailer-turned health clinic was such a pleasure to the eye. Not only because it looked beautiful on camera. But it really brought the community together, advocating for health and a healthy lifestyle.

The trailer has hosted numerous medical screenings in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia for high blood pressure and HIZ, and activities such as story time for kids and nutrition demonstrations such as...

A Personal Brand

A "hesitant" leader, Ned had become an inspirational one at TD. His senior position, along with his coming out story, certainly made him a larger-than-life figure in the company.

His coming out not only proved to himself that it was the right decision, it also relieved a big weight off this shoulders, which he had carried for so long. Many colleagues would come up to his office or to him during events to tell him that how his story inspired them or their friends in the community. He wasn't the most outspoken senior official on pride parades, yet his story touched everyone and built up a new generation. It was a huge honor of mine to have the opportunity to work with him and tell his story to achieve overwhelming positive employee engagement.

While working at Fitch Ink, I served clients such as GE up and down their chain of command. We helped GE's communications team elevate production value of stories and videos for their Newsroom, newsletter, social media and internal engagements.

A memorable piece of content was a 3-minute video I produced and edited for GE's 2020 year-end all-staff meeting, recapping the year scarred by the pandemic yet filled with employee compassion. We highlighted retired GE engineers coming back to staff assembly lines to make ventilators, Italian sales managers driving ambulances to help with patients during lockdown. The video was so well received that we got a nod from GE CEO Larry Culp.