Downloadable Version of CV
Liam A. Shannon
Professional Profile
Combines proven global corporate leadership experience with over 20 years of award-winning agency creative expertise to build market-changing brands. A story-teller with a strategic agenda. Hands on but with the big picture in mind. A leader who develops new leaders. Customer insight driven. Truly medium agnostic (from digital to video, content to VR/AR). An excitable boy with an INFECTious passion for breaking through, emotionally connecting, and delivering results.
Core Competencies
Business strategy:
Builds market-dominating positions through unique and insightful understanding of market forces, emerging trends, and underlying customer motivations.
Brand strategy:
Leverages expertise of working with everything from start-ups to global entities in industries from retail and e-tail to packaged goods, travel & hospitality, financial services, and healthcare to define and animate brands around ownable and extensible brand promises.
Creative production:
Creates, executes, and integrates “big idea” creative campaigns that break through the clutter, engage and affect audiences, and deliver measurable business results (not to mention more than a few awards).
Powerful presentation:
Involves, explains, excites and sells audiences of all levels through smart, entertaining presentations on branding, campaign ideas and new initiatives.
Active mentoring:
Identifies, educates, motivates and develops high potential individuals into the creative leaders of tomorrow.
Dual citizenship:
Possesses US and Irish passports and so can work without visa in NA and EU.
Essential Experience
VISTAPRINT | Global Executive Creative Director
Recruited in 2010, to help fix negatively perceived brand created by a decade of hard-sell direct response advertising and misapplication of basic marketing principles.
Introduced, championed and institutionalized proven marketing principles and practices across the internal agency and marketing partners to deliver Vistaprint’s first strategically-driven campaigns, more efficient creative development, and improved agency/client relationships.
Brought broadcast and branded content production in-house and embarked on a multi-year effort to globally redefine Vistaprint and launch a powerful new brand across all customer touch points. Began this revolution with NA integrated broadcast, online and direct mail campaigns that garnered awards, surpassed all previous direct response results, and delivered double-digit increases in all brand metrics.
After the success of the NA campaign, scaled efforts to include integrated broadcast and digital campaigns for FR, DE, UK, and AUS markets. Growing responsibility culminated in the creative leadership of 60 design, copy, UX, and video production professionals across Vistaprint’s NA headquarters and Europe - producing over 12,000 localized deliverables across all channels.
Most recently partnered with external vendors to develop and roll out a new corporate identity system while at the same time leading the in-house creation and production of Vistaprint’s first-ever pure brand commercial, “The Postcard.” Produced in concert with a long-form online film, the resulting brand content received over one million views on Youtube.com.
Envision EMI | Director of Branding & Creative Development
Led the creative rebrand of a $200 million education company whose aggressive direct marketing efforts had resulted in declining conversion rates and adverse brand perceptions. Identified core aspects of the brand and used them to redefine its voice, look, and reasons to believe. Created and implemented new brand standards, educated and developed internal creative teams, and delivered record revenues in FY 2008-2009.
Fresh Cut Grass | Creative Director & Principal
Founded Fresh Cut Grass, a boutique agency that specialized in providing full-service advertising services including online, broadcast, radio, print, email, display, POP, event marketing, media buying and PR at a “backyard” price. The agency was highly successful - serving as agency of record for clients including Boston Interiors, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, The Boston Ballet, The Eye Center of Concord, Partners Healthcare and The Seaport Hotel. The business also afforded the opportunity to be more present during the key early years of my children’s lives.
Trinity Communications | Creative & Managing Director
Returning to Boston from NY, served as Board Member and Creative Director for the 80-person agency delivering branding and marketing campaigns for Putnam Investments, Loomis Sayles, The Seaport Hotel, Liberty Mutual, and Leading Hotels of the World.
Korey Kay & Partners | VP, Creative Director
Creative Director leading Celebrity Cruise Lines and contributing on Virgin Atlantic Airlines.
Ogilvy & Mather, NY | VP, Associate Creative Director
Lead Writer on Dove Soap, Surf Detergent, OTC switch of Tagamet, American Express and TIAA CREF.
Hill Holiday Connors Cosmopolous | Senior Copywriter
Won first awards for Irish Tourist Board, Massachusetts State Lottery, Boston Gas, Spalding Golf.
Early Education
Boston University, Continuing Education
SFC, Cadet, US Army, Army Reserve & National Guard
Dartmouth College, BS Film Studies (with minor in Design)
Awards & Achievements
10 Hatch Awards, 14 New England Broadcast Awards, 3 One Show Awards, 2 CA Awards, 1 MITX Gold, and a prized Golden Hammer Award for Hardware Advertising Excellence
David Ogilvy Award – most effective campaign of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, 1993
Lead Boston Recipient – Chosen as Boston Leader to represent advertising in one-year volunteer program bringing together community and business leaders to focus on issues and isms of Boston and New England.
Completed two Tough Mudders and one Boston Marathon