Graduate Management Admissions Council

New Mexico State University

Thunderbird School of Global Management

Director of Marketing at Somatus

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Somatus

Director of Patient Marketing

- Plan and implement marketing and communication strategy directed at school and public librarians and promoting JLG’s subscription service which delivers hand-curated preK-YA literature in a variety of genre/reading-level categories.

- Manage multi-channel marketing and communications campaigns to drive brand awareness, brand affinity and lead generation.

- Research and develop engaging content that reinforces brand and builds customer loyalty (including all strategic and promotional materials such as white papers, blogs, articles, newsletters, website, brochures, emails, presentations, social media, reports, advertisements, press releases, webinars, etc.).

- Oversee team consisting of writers/project managers, a digital marketing specialist and designer to produce cohesive and consistent messaging across all platforms.

- Analyze campaign data using marketing automation and website analytics tools to assess effectiveness of campaigns and identify opportunities and weaknesses.

- Responsible for successful implementation of new business platforms, including a 100% online book fair solution that was conceptualized, built, marketed, and executed in less than 3 months.

- Successfully developed widespread brand affinity during COVID school closures by standing up free, online resources including access to JLG’s digital reading platform, author-talk webcasts, and multimedia curricula. When schools resumed, led the effort to convert users of our free digital-reading platform to paying subscribers and helped the sales team reach 300% of its new-business goal for the product line.

- Launched and hosted a serial webcast with author Rex Ogle, who wrote and read his original middle-grade novel Aiden Tyler, Quaran-teen in real time over a series of 13 weeks for home-bound students, teachers, librarians, and families during COVID shut-downs.

Junior Library Guild

Marketing Director

In this role, I oversee the creative and tactical output of the Marketing, Communications and Branding team. I provide strategic insight, direction and support for all initiatives, with particular emphasis in the development of communications and marketing content. I manage Thunderbird's robust website at <a href="http://thunderbird.asu.edu">http://thunderbird.asu.edu</a> and serve as the Editor in Chief of the school's successful online thought-leadership platform, The Thunderbird Knowledge Network, which has generated more than 50K unique user visits since its launch in early 2017. I manage a team of design creatives, web development experts and social media managers -- bringing all functions together to deliver compelling, sophisticated and comprehensive marketing and communications campaigns. I also serve as a strategy and execution partner for executive communications, internal communications, external relations, enrollment marketing and media relations.

Senior Director Branding & Communications

In this position, I was responsible for managing the communications and marketing campaigns of Arizona-, California-, Florida- and Ohio-based teams focused on supporting their respective state's nursing homes in improving the quality of care delivered to residents. This work was part of an extensive Quality Improvement Organization contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In an effort to recruit nursing homes to participate in these quality-improvement initiatives, I strategized, planned and deployed these campaigns through a wide range of outreach mediums including email (using the Constant Contact platform), corporate website, webinars (using the WebEx platform), direct mail and video. My duties included writing, creative collaboration, project management and metric evaluation for all outreach mediums.

I also served as the organization's corporate communications lead. In this role, I served as ghostwriter for the organization's CEO for all internal communications, and contributed to external CEO communication through strategic planning and execution of complicated messaging to various audiences. Additional tasks included driving corporate branding through message development, reputation management efforts and internal and external stakeholder engagement.

Health Services Advisory Group, Inc. (HSAG)

Marketing Communications Project Manager

- Created compelling, persuasive and emotionally engaging marketing and communications content to position Thunderbird as the premier institution for international business education.
-  Managed creative product/program marketing projects and student/alumni communications efforts, working with stakeholders in recruiting, admissions, alumni relations and student support services.
-  Wrote all schoolwide and degree-program marketing collateral, including emails, website, brochures, one-sheets, online banner ads and print advertising.
-  Developed and implemented strategy for internal and external communications/marketing to ensure recruiting and engagement goals were met.
-  Worked with in-house designers to deliver quality products that adhered to brand standards and reinforced the school's visual identity.
-  Developed brand messaging and voice that both solidified Thunderbird's prestige and reinforced its mission.
-  Managed all content on <a href="http://www.thunderbird.edu">www.thunderbird.edu</a>, which included both development of marketing/informational copy and editing content supplied by internal stakeholders.
-  Monitored brand messaging and reviewed and edited all supplementary marketing materials developed by internal stakeholders to ensure brand messaging was intact and established voice was consistent.
-  Conceptualized, created and managed content and multimedia on website using Drupal platform.
-  Managed contract writers and provided informal content oversight for social media and PR.
-  Served as the content lead and as a user-experience strategist for Thunderbird's 2009 and 2012 website redesigns.
-  Promoted from Marketing Editor in 2011 (served in that role from June 2008-November 2011)

Marketing/Communications Content Manager

Marketing Content Editor

- Served as primary project manager for all communications initiatives originating in company’s Human Resources department, including annual performance review process, open enrollment, employee morale campaigns and wellness initiatives.
-  Wrote all manner of internal communication from educational benefits-related articles to good news stories, executive profiles and sensitive messaging.
-  Developed communication strategies to disseminate important information to 2,000 employees spread across 21 states in new, creative and effective ways.
-  Acted as primary ghostwriter for company’s CEO, developing all speeches, presentations, internal and external letters, congressional testimonies, board of directors’ reports and personal employee communication/relations pieces.
-  Started at TriWest as Marketing Specialist in November 2001 and was promoted to Senior Marketing Specialist in January 2004.
-  From November 2004 through February 2007, I was employed by TriWest as a contract writer, providing much of the same services as above (with less project management) on a freelance basis.

TriWest Healthcare Alliance

Senior Communication Specialist, Strategic & Executive Communications

- Served as managing editor/head writer of “InnSights” and “Gourmet Business” magazines.
-  Wrote industry trend articles, news features, event reviews, product announcements, advertorials and company profiles.
-  Interviewed celebrity chefs, cookbook authors, gourmet food/housewares retailers, boutique property/bed & breakfast owners, industry authorities, product manufacturers and trade association representatives.
-  Assisted in media kit and editorial calendar preparation.
-  Maintained contact database of writers, artists and resources.
-  Oversaw monthly production cycles.

VIRGO

Managing Editor/Writer

I worked as a freelance feature writer during the period of 1997-2006, and intermittently thereafter, publishing in such magazines as Arizona Foothills, Arizona Brides, Chicago Brides and Ahwatukee Monthly.

Rhonda Mihalic