About Dana S. Holmes – B2C Commerce & Brand Strategist

Recent Global MBA with 10+ years of commerce, content and brand development project design and management for lifestyle brands and agencies via remote and hybrid teams.

After years spent launching and managing various commerce content initiatives and assisting B2C PR & marketing agencies manage and pitch clients, I pursued an MBA to gain a broad understanding of global business operations. During my recent MBA journey, my curiosity regarding business strategy expanded to include investigating the future of business, AI innovation and entrepreneurship.

I partner best with firms that are aiming to flex with the unpredictable demands of the future. I’m an inspirational, forward-thinking and collaborative leader and strategist who brings detailed organization and creative analysis skills to each project. I thrive on creating new programs, establishing new norms and am dedicated to driving lasting, sustainable value that align with core business objectives.

EXPERTISE

CAREER EXPERIENCE

Principal Brand & Commerce Strategist | DANA HOLMES MEDIA                                     2014 – Current

Own and operate a boutique client services firm offering creative and analytic brand strategy, marketing and e-commerce problem solving for B2C lifestyle brands and agencies. Build relationships with c-suite leadership, startup founders, and cross-functional corporate teams. Concurrent contract roles in communicating and managing complex projects from hypothesis to execution and measurement. Hand-pick freelance teams of up to nine based on individual project needs.

Key Clients Include: TheKnotWorldwide, Brilliant PR & Marketing, Gifts.com, Full Picture PR, AOL, General Motors, Kelly Blue Book, Educational Insights, Moen, Motorola, Merci Chocolate, Hi-Chew

• Cross-collaborate with numerous, including Marketing, Social Media, Audience Development, Merchandising, Product, Design, Business Development, Dev, Editorial and Public Relations teams to rally around a common goal.
• Develop project workplans including identifying clear objectives, calendar development, stakeholder management, and project management tool implementation.
• Develop branded and sponsored commerce content projects from the ground up by defining offerings, standards, and team structure that align with business objectives.
• Advise on and execute omni-channel marketing and public relations plans to engage the target audience and increase traffic, ROAS, ROI and brand visibility and loyalty.
• Increase average client retainer through creative repositioning and organizational restructuring.
• Create clarity and consistency of brand identity, value proposition, customer journeys, brand mission and messaging.
• Conduct detailed data analysis (traffic and sales insights) to identify opportunities for strengthening brand direction or client offerings and customer satisfaction.
• Conduct market research and audit agency or brand offerings, develop and manage special project initiatives, improve SEO strategy, RFP response and proposal direction.
• Implement strategies for operating and scaling affiliate, editorial, branded & sponsored commerce content revenue.
• Available for panel discussions, on-air expert & spokesperson opportunities.
• Hosted Meta’s Branded Content Project call on affiliate commerce and branded commerce content strategy.
• Manage budget and operations for each client project and my LLC.

Branded Content Editor (Forbes Vetted) | FORBES INC.                                                              2022 – 2024

Built branded content offerings and cross-collaborative workflows from the ground-up. Culminated in 300+ campaigns for 40+ clients in 2023 that contributed 15% of the total revenue of the Forbes Vetted commerce division.

Key Clients Included: Meta, Walmart, Kohler, Blue Apron, Nordstrom, BestBuy, The Home Depot, CVS, NordicTrack, Wayfair, Lululemon, Nectar Vuori and more.

• Directed collaboration with art, social, editorial, SEO, sales, and marketing departments, unifying diverse business lines under a common project vision and roadmap.
• Steered the development and launch of branded and sponsored content campaigns that transformed sales capabilities across all commerce categories.
• Developed a suite of 21 distinct content types and numerous multi-component campaign configurations.
• Enabled sales team to reach 100%+ of sales goal for 2022 and 2023 via creative campaign executions.
• Defined branded content style guide, extensive SEO strategy & RFP response standards.
• Expanded team from one to four full-time employees and built a freelance talent pool.

Head of Brand & Content (TheShopicle) | PERION NETWORKS                                       2021 – 2021

Recruited to conceive, envision, and bring to life an innovative intrapreneurial venture focused on affiliate commerce and client-sponsored shopping content. Funding was cut prior to launch.

• Architected brand identity, user experience, and production workflows, including content calendar and standards.
• Established unique value proposition, market segmentation, and frameworks for differentiation and scalable growth.
• Unified developers, product managers, social ads manager, freelance writers, and account managers around a single, cohesive vision for the proposed shoppable content platform.

Commerce Editor | WARNER MEDIA                                                                                                    2019 – 2021

Elevated commerce content reach and engagement with the development of tactical, mission-driven promotional programming. Directed teams in the creation of dynamic content, strategizing marketing approaches to drive growth.

Lifestyle Commerce Editor (CNN UNDERSCORED), 2020 – 2021: Collaborated with Editorial, AdOps, and SEO teams to roll out promotional commerce programming across CNN.com, Flipboard, Outbrain, and Apple News outlets for CNN Underscored.

• Generated a 300% increase in Outbrain clicks, a 100%+ increase in click-through-rate (CTR), and an overall 300% increase in revenue.
• Steered the creation of a high-impact Father’s Day content package that brought $1M+ in revenue.
• Ensured high traffic and revenue performance through innovative product testing and influencer strategies.
• Managed freelance staff and calendar to publish myriad revenue-focused gifts, food, health and travel articles.

Commerce Editor (GREAT BIG STORY), 2019 – 2020: Worked cross-functionally across CNN Underscored and CNN Digital to shape business and content strategy for Great Big Story’s written branded, sponsored and commerce content division. Great Big Story shut down in December 2019.

Key Clients Included: Suntory, ASICS, Al Nippon Airways, Germany, Ghana, and more.

• Established and aligned with affiliate-revenue focused, multi-platform monetization strategy and vision for the Guides content division, advancing business outcomes through unique approaches.
• Established an affiliate-revenue focused, multi-platform monetization strategy and vision for the Guides content division, advancing business outcomes through creative approaches.
• Fostered strong partnerships with global sales teams, the CNN digital advertising agency, and legal teams to oversee written branded and sponsored content strategy for global brands and tourism boards.
• Drove a 500% M/M increase in production with the development of Monday.com workflow tools, style guide, programmatic planning, and affiliate commerce systems.

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE

Director of Commerce Editorial, PR and Social (Gifts.com) IAC/InteractiveCorp               2010 — 2013

Partnered with CEO to shape brand authority, spearhead new programs (including developing the “Giftees” panel-based awards program), and drove 90%+ traditional media, revenue & social media growth YoY for three consecutive years. Grew brand presence and reputation resulting in a case study on traditional media being featured in a Wharton School of Business MBA course. Featured as commerce expert more than 500 times: https://youtu.be/s-6rqD-l1Mg).

Earlier progressive roles during my tenure with IAC & HSN in Florida, New York City and Los Angeles include: (2001 — 2010)

• Trend Editor and Media Manager (Gifts.com); Public Relations and Editorial Assistant (Gifts.com); Assistant Gold Jewelry Buyer (HSN); Product Knowledge Specialist (HSN)

EDUCATION

MBA Global Business Innovation & Entrepreneurship | IE University Part-Time Global Online MBA, Madrid, Spain, EU

#1 Online MBA & #6 Global MBA program in the world by Financial Times 2023

Bachelor of Art in English Literature | University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

Top 5% of Major Cohort, Study Abroad: Nottingham Trent University England, UK

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Monday.com, Photoshop, Tableau, Looker, MS Office, Adobe Analytics, Google Keyword Planner, MailChimp, HubSpot, PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, JIRA, Agile Project Management, Content Management Systems, Facebook Ads, SEM Rush, Clearscope, SEO, AP Style, ACES Editing Certificate, TikTok, Instagram, Video Strategy, AI Prompt Engineering, Startup and Scaleup Strategy, Porter Method, Change Management, Project Management, Pitching & Negotiation

More about me:

I have 10+ years of developing and producing lifestyle media—covering food, travel, parenting, gifts, shopping, etiquette, sustainability, product testing and more—via advice, affiliate commerce content and branded media. Over the years, I’ve consulted on many brand development and user experience projects and love getting my hands dirty with calendar development and complex project management in remote work environments.

I’m passionate about identifying business growth opportunities and brand activations as well as creating proposals that help bring them to life. I’m comfortable using data analytics tools to guide decision-making, including Google keyword planner, hubspot and Adobe analytics to build effective omni-channel marketing programs.

I enjoy pulling all of the content levers from affiliate commerce to e-commerce, print to digital, social media to other innovative models of in-person activation. I created the Giftee awards (a crowd- and expert-sourced awards program) from scratch as a brand activation for Gifts.com, where I was director of editorial, social and public relations. I also envisioned and oversaw launch parties for Cinch local shopping app in Williamsburg, Brooklyn as vice president of marketing.

I’m experienced in strategic programming ideation, budget and operations management, and cross-company collaboration. My teams and I have helped launched consumer brands from Israel and Europe in the U.S. via strategic public relations and marketing plans.