University of Chicago

Head of Creative @ Potbelly Sandwich Shop 🥪

Ruffling feathers through world class creative messaging 

Helping B2Bs build deeper, more valuable relationships with their customers (and vice versa)

Hootsuite

Creative Director

Premium ghostwriter of LinkedIn content and Educational Email Courses, all to help grow the personal brands, authority, and world of opportunities for Senior Marketing Executives like you.

How would I know?

I've spent the last 8 years as a senior marketing and creative exec at brands like Kraft-Heinz, Potbelly, and The Onion. A total of 13 years as a copywriter, too.

I used the fundamentals of personal branding and online content to boost my career in half the time.

And I can help you, too.

I've been there, done that, know the challenges you're facing, and can help build your OWN brand -- a powerful, valuable asset that outlasts any job -- instead of you building other people's brands at work all day.

Total F*cking Authority, Inc | Ghostwriting For Sr. Marketing Execs

Founder & Chief Ghostwriter

Skills: Social Media · Creative Strategy · Advertising · Marketing Copy · Brand Awareness · Creative Direction · Photo Shoots · Project Management · Copywriting · Team Leadership

The Kitchen

Summary: Had a blast setting the creative vision, writing jokes, selling sandwiches, learning what makes customers tick in a crowded space, advancing my creative leadership abilities, and using words like ROAS and LTV way too casually. 

The details:
Led all creative from paid media to web/app redesign to shop packaging to silly tweets and stunts. Ensured consistent brand tone/look/positioning across all customer touchpoints. Ate plenty of sandwiches. 

Grew brand awareness in a saturated market, developing an ownable brand position. Led creative, top-funnel efforts netting +7% revenue lift… during Covid. Overall, the creative campaigns I led earned between 5:1 and 12:1 return on spend. 

Capitalized on paid social to produce more real, UGC-inspired content, resulting in better ROAS than more polished work. Constantly optimized with A/B testing. 

Led creative efforts across the funnel: from customer acquisition to retention. Helped grow Potbelly’s loyalty program, creating email and app marketing to earn loyalty members with a higher LTV than non-members. 

Built strong relationships with every function to roll out a brand new menu, including improved menu design, in-shop and online creative, and a smoother menu production process. The results? Better sandwiches and more value for customers.

As manager, I’ve led a team of ridiculously talented in-house creatives and freelancers, protecting the creative process and coaching them to create their best work, all while maintaining high brand standards.

Potbelly Sandwich Works

Director, Brand Creative

Associate Creative Director

Shorty Awards

Judge

- Create branded content campaigns for global companies (both B2C and B2B), strategically marrying the brand’s objectives with The Onion’s comedic voice.

- I was critically involved in the RFP-to-production process for over 20 campaigns, accounting for $14 million in new business. 

- On a given day, I was concepting ideas, mentoring junior writers, working with account/strategy/sales/marketing departments, presenting to clients, or making edits to a video featuring a guy in a panda costume. 

- Used my connections to get press in Adweek, The Drum, Creativity Online, and other industry press outlets

Onion, Inc.

Creative Marketing Director

Editor and Founding Member of "Slackjaw", the largest humor publication on Medium: https://medium.com/slackjaw/

Medium.com

Editor

Senior Creative at Onion Labs

Teaching various classes on content creation, branded content, content strategy, anything with the word "content" in it.

Some nice words from Kim Mok, Creative Director at Google:
"Why was Hassan's class so great? Well, it features images of Steve Urkel, Larry David, and a cat. Okay, I'm allergic to cats, but I still appreciate them in a class - especially one that breaks down the mysteries of consumable content in such an entertaining, valuable, and actionable way."

General Assembly

Instructor

Concept, pitch, and write copy/scripts for TV, print, outdoor, and digital campaigns to advertise brands that I grew up loving. It all comes full circle!

Clients: Quaker, Aleve, Flintstones, Wrigley (5 Gum, Orbit, Extra), K9 Advantix II, Pearle Vision

Awards: Effie Award (Pearle Vision), 1 Gold & 3 Bronze Addy Awards (Quaker)

Energy BBDO

Copywriter

- Wrote quirky, dynamic stories on everything from restaurant chefs evading the city’s foie gras ban to a University law student competing in the Miss America pageant.
- Wrote and edited semi-weekly articles for the University of Chicago’s official blog.

University of Chicago Magazine

Writer/Intern

co-created and produced a comedy television show, from brainstorming and writing episodes to filming and post-production. my parents still don't believe this was an actual job.

Current TV

Producer

- Supervised and trained 20 student reporters, most of whom had no prior journalism experience, while also writing my own articles under tight deadlines.
- Delivered provocative, insightful, community-based news coverage that won the Maroon the Associated College Press’s Newspaper Pacemaker Award for 2007.

Hassan S. Ali