Melissa Stefani-Bolin
 
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About Me

As a leader in brand, marketing and business transformation, I bring twenty years of diverse experience across multiple categories - always with a digital first mindset. I specialize in building and transforming brands to ensure they forge lasting recall and deep emotional connections with their audiences, reflecting their essence and ethos. My approach centers on architecting and executing strategies that surpass goals through innovative digital experiences, products, and campaigns. I emphasize respect for diversity in team building, and I navigate ambiguity with an open, steadfast method, viewing challenges as opportunities for innovative and delightful user experiences. With an agile mindset, I treat each challenge as a chance for learning and transformation, always maintaining integrity.

My expertise leverages an insight-driven methodology, enabling me to effectively lead diverse teams, whether remote or onsite. Obsessed with brand and marketing performance, I am perpetually measuring and optimizing to ensure our strategies stay relevant to our targets. This approach ensures that our products and concepts are not only data-informed but also resonate deeply with users, enhancing relevance, engagement, long-term value and are evangelized by our audiences. Through integrated teamwork, I aim to personalize user journeys, connecting all touchpoints seamlessly, which bolsters user satisfaction and helps the teams I manage exceed their objectives with empathy and a commitment to excellence.

My background, enriched by my formative years in Kobe, Japan, instills a deep commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity in all aspects of my work. In my leisure time, I enjoy golf, bocce, engaging in our Joshua Tree desert community through event planning and community benefit work, playing drums, fashion, and exploring culinary arts with my chef husband.

 
 

Professional Skills

Personal Skills

 
 
 

Work

Hoag Health Care System

Brand Strategy, Board of Directors/C-Suite Advisement and Engagement, Change Management, Data and Analytics, Attribution Modeling, Digital Transformation, Foundation Events and Engagement, Emerging Tech and Legacy System Management, Event Planning, Fractional CMO, Keynote Speaking, Marketing Campaign Development, Media Strategy and Planning, Performance Marketing, Strategic Marketing Vision and Direction, Systems, Process Development and Implementation

Standing in as fractional CMO, I worked with our team in closely collaborating with Hoag's senior leadership to deeply understand the organizational challenges and needs within a physician-led environment. My leadership has kept us ahead in the rapidly changing healthcare landscape, identifying both opportunities and threats from new entrants and innovations. Utilizing deep expertise in healthcare, data analytics, digital marketing, and a culture of continuous improvement, the team successfully led Hoag through transformative changes, increasing market share, brand recall, double digit revenue growth and enhancing patient outcomes and shaping the future of healthcare.

EIGHTHNOTE

Co-Founder. Vision, leadership, data & analytics, brand, product development.

Together alongside my co-founder, we launched Eighthnote, a pioneering wellness journey application, born from in-depth research and development, that redefines personal health and well-being management. By merging intuitive navigation with advanced biometric tracking, the app meticulously analyzes unique data alongside qualitative experiences, providing personalized insights into individual physiologies and wellness routines. Enables users to take informed control over their health, ensuring a more informed, empowered, and enjoyable wellness experience.

 

Allianz: Breaking Records With Adaptive Sports Technology

Insights & Strategy, UX/UI, Media Strategy and Execution, Analytics & Measurement

Allianz Super Human Sports project, aims to advance technology for adaptive sports. I led a team who worked to develop a competition targeted at an audience of tech-savvy, boundary pushing co-creators, that encouraged innovation in designing solutions to enhance the capabilities and participation of athletes with disabilities through an omni-channel, digital first engagement and activation approach.

Power Up with the United States Marine Corps

Insights & Strategy, UX/UI, Media Strategy and Execution, Analytics & Measurement

Alongside the Launch Forth team, I led a digital marketing team to effectively drive engagement and activation of co-creators for the USMC Modular Logistics Vehicle project. Leveraging audience insights and research, we crafted targeted personas to guide our strategy. Our efforts yielded increased project memberships, design submissions, and community interaction through multi-channel campaigns. With a data-driven approach, we surpassed goals and optimized budgets, ensuring dynamic campaign adjustments for maximum reach and impact on the Launch Forth platform.

AMERICAN EXPRESS BONVOY BRILLIANT: BRAVE THE WORLD

Sr. Experience Strategist, Campaign Positioning, Audience Development, Customer Journey, Paid Media Direction

The Ask: Create an omnichannel brand platform introducing the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card and newly merged Marriott/Starwood Preferred hotel loyalty program in an inspiring way to American Express loyalists in the luxury segment.

Our campaign speaks to citizens of the world, the avid traveler who wants to take on, brave and explore the far corners of the Earth to further enrich their lives with experiences. Inspired by the personal elements of journaling.

Batch 64: Double Digit Growth in a Global Pandemic

The regenerative substrates business was looking to reimagine their business model to stay competitive in a growing industry. Utilizing an updated brand strategy, growth models, disruptive strategy frameworks, ERP system integration, COVID-19 supply chain contingency planning, B2B selling strategy, team capacity evolution and agency management to grow almost 800%.

Role: Director of Strategic Growth & Business Development

ALVARADO STREET BAKERY

The Ask: introduce the brand to a newly positioned audience without alienating a dedicated older audience.

Using social listening, data analysis and other customer development channels we were able to successfully craft paid and organic media campaigns that generated brand awareness/lift, captured a new type of customer target, drove traffic in-store (and online channels as a pivot during COVID-19) and continued LTV of current customers through a new, multi-channel journey approach.

Content Strategy, Social Strategy & Execution, Paid Media, Creative Direction, Integrated Marketing & Experience Strategy, Audience Development

Agency: Veneer