AI, monsters and an 800% engagement spike
The challenge
Market noise
Standing out in a saturated market of tech solutions.
Shifting perceptions
Elevating O’Reilly’s image from a trusted book publisher to a comprehensive learning platform.
My role
As marketing design director, I led the design strategy and execution for the Skunkworks Campaign, building on the Creative Lab model I launched in 2020.
Creative direction / copywriting
Todd Stephany
Design direction / design
Ellie V
Art direction / design
Kenn Vondrak
Design / animation
Drew Barton, Tiffany Truong
Design strategy
Our approach centered on customer pain points—a strategy our team had pitched in the past and was a good fit for the experimental, fast-moving skunkworks methodology.
Creative innovation
The ‘skunkworks’ approach empowered the design team to experiment with unconventional ideas, leading to standout concepts like the AI Monsters and Blue Dot campaigns.
Reflecting our customers’ emotions
We stepped into our customers' realities—their fears around AI, talent retention, and economic uncertainty. We showed we understood their pain points.
Targeted, data-driven execution
A full-funnel media strategy across LinkedIn, 6sense, YouTube, Google, and social media expanded reach across North America, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM, optimized targeting, and grew a strong pipeline of handraisers for sales. We combined AI-powered imagery with expert design refinement, applying A/B testing and real-time analytics to continually optimize creative performance and boost engagement.
Phase one
“Gen AI Doesn’t Have to Be Scary” and “Blue Dot” creative launches fueled a 700–800% engagement spike.
Phase two
We expanded the "Monsters" campaign and added additional creative on AI and Security.
Skunkworks...it works.
Our team had pitched leaning into pain points in the past and it turned out to be a good fit for the experimental, fast moving skunkworks methodology.
The numbers tell the story
We achieved 800% increase in engagement over previous campaigns with several of the ad series.
Designing for scale
We established a repeatable creative model that balanced experimentation, AI tools, and craftsmanship—setting a new standard for marketing innovation at O'Reilly.
