My Story

Early in my career, I knew finding ways to creatively share information and build connections was my calling. I also knew I wanted to share information and tell stories that would make a positive impact on the world. Since then, I’ve helped organizations across sectors build their brands, engage their communities, and grow their revenue to address society's most pressing challenges.

I’ve worked internationally and domestically to strengthen access to affordable energy, promote health equity initiatives, launch new brands and programs to shift the narrative on climate change, increase demand for healthy and sustainable food in national parks, champion income-generating opportunities through ecotourism in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and empower technology partners to provide disruptive software solutions to their customers.

work

Behind every great marketing and communications campaign is a great team. I have been fortunate to lead and work with brilliant, creative and hard-working teams who have taught me that results are created by communicating consistently, knowing your audience and yourself, and reaching people where they are, over time. 

Branding

As part of the senior management team at Heluna Health (formerly Public Health Foundation Enterprises), I helped a 50-year-old public health organization transform its identity and build brand awareness with new audiences, elevating its leadership to improve public health. I spurred a ground-breaking go-to-market strategy and plan to elevate the organization’s market position and support a five-year strategic plan for national expansion and market diversification. One year after this rebrand, the organization celebrated its 50th anniversary year, which offered an opportunity to reintroduce the brand with a new treatment.

At ecoAmerica, I worked with our leadership team, advisory board members, partners and design agency to develop the five new program brands below to engage leaders in business, higher education, health, faith and local government to build support for climate change solutions in the U.S. I conducted market research and formal surveys, applied psychology research, and co-led the brand evolution process to develop logos, tag lines, brand names, style guides and key messaging that would resonate with the core values of our target audiences - organizational leaders who had not engaged in climate change as a priority for their organizations.

At the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, I managed brand integrity, consistency and voice across all channels for the Institute at the Golden Gate and Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary.

Omnichannel Marketing

As a marketer, I have worked to create engaging content that resonates with individuals at their core, customizing content to fit across all channels to meet people where they are and move them down the marketing funnel. This approach has been key to successful earned, owned, and paid marketing campaigns I have managed across organizations.

Digital and Print

Email Marketing

34 percent of consumers say they’re more likely to make a purchase from email marketing compared to other channels, according to Constant Contact. It's a key component of any integrated marketing campaign and allows us to connect with people in a personal space, guiding them to what we have to offer beyond their inboxes. Our emails for the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary had an average open rate of 40% and helped raise awareness and generate funds for restored parklands and community programs.

Social media

Social media has replaced the daily newspaper where the world gathers to consume and share information 24/7. At Heluna Health, I led the social media strategy and editorial process for the organization, which has propelled brand awareness and visibility for the organization with 40% growth in engagement across social platforms. See Heluna Health on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to see their work.

As the marketing manager for the Institute at the Golden Gate, I helped increase our Facebook following from 0 to 1,000 in 2009 by creating and curating engaging content for segmented audiences.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR is an important part of an integrated marketing mix that builds credibility by leveraging influencers and trusted reporters. Many of us trust the media we engage with as sources of objective information, and building relationships with media can help an organization build trust with new audiences. Leveraging the power of PR, I have helped boost campaign traction for nonprofit, corporate, and government organizations with media partnerships, press releases, opinion pieces (op-eds), and original articles covered by reporters.

• Resource Innovations: led awards, press release, and media outreach strategy; Raising Your Antenna podcast; EV practice expansion; Inc. 5000 award (2022)

• Heluna Health: led press engagement for a rebranding initiative, a 50th anniversary campaign launch, and secured earned media for the organization’s PHFE WIC program with Capital and Main, LAist/KPCC, and other outlets (2017-2022)

• ecoAmerica/Path to Positive Communities press release: Mayors Sign Proclamation and Pledge to Reduce Climate Risks (2015)

• ecoAmerica/Climate for Health oped (co-produced): Preventing the Health Impacts of Climate Change (2015)

• Golden Gate Bridge: co-managed omnichannel media partnerships across channels (2012)

• Institute at the Golden Gate coverage for Turning the Tide conference: Leaders Who Are Turning the Tide to Health and Sustainability (2010)

Video

Powerful videos captivate us and guide us to build connections to issues we care about. By first establishing a goal, a concept, a script and a storyboard, I help manage a number of videos from start to finish with video producers.

At Heluna Health, my team developed the first series of videos for the organization to propel fundraising and partnerships to advance health equity. Watch their sizzle reel and program spotlight videos at Heluna Health’s YouTube channel.

At the Institute at the Golden Gate, we used video to connect our audiences to complex environmental and social issues by bringing stories to life. Below is our highlight reel from the Institute’s inaugural Turning the Tide conference.

See the entire catalog of videos from the Institute at the Golden Gate here >

Websites

A website is often the first point-of-contact for new customers, funders, partners and employees and where new relationships begin. Throughout my career, I have helped to create and manage content for over 25 websites across sectors and industry verticals. Here are just some of the website projects I have led.

Resumé

With five years of my early career spent in partner marketing for technology solutions and over ten years in social and environmental marketing, I am ready to take my career to the next level by working on projects to make an even greater impact on the world. Take a peek at my resume and let's start a conversation on how we can make the world a better place, together.

Let's Connect!

Making the world a better place is not a one-woman job. I am always looking to collaborate with new friends, retweet exciting social impact projects or strategize on how to push innovative solutions out into the world. 

Email me at nickiekluge@gmail.com, follow me on Twitter @nickiekluge and connect with me on LinkedIn. Sometimes, all it takes to make something great happen is for the right people to connect at the right time.