I began my career in a unique subconscious brand attachment group, a combination of strategy, research, and creative that developed high-level concepts for new and existing clients. Leveraging my Philosophy education, I am able to look at consumers from all angles and analyze a variety of ethnographic insights along with market and brand data. This point of view has stuck with me through more traditional account management roles as I consistently bring unexpected strategic value to my projects alongside client development and project management. A creative eye for story and substance has made me a trusted brand expert for my clients & colleagues through projects of all scales, across all channels, regularly resulting in incremental business and always resulting in great relationships.
Experience
Most recently, this POV has enabled me to build shopper programs that drive conversion & inspire confidence through the combination of impactful storytelling and strategic commerce programs/planning. I have been a proven growth driver for agencies, clients, and categories/retailers. Understanding the importance of synergy within all sides of the marketing mix is integral to any program's success, including shopper, sales, brand, & retailer teams, to build sales and relationships across national & regional accounts. Focusing on the tailored relationships at all levels is needed to drive commerce most effectively, communicating memorable campaigns from insights to cross-channel execution to conversion. This has become even more crucial as Retail Media Networks pop-up everywhere.
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Retail Planning: Led development of 25+ individual retail plans for 2021 – 2024, across all channels, including ecomm
Financial: Organically grew business at all agencies, including 4x SOW in 5 years, Managed $40mm+ working dollars in shopper marketing & retail media, helping Dreyer’s become #1 ice cream company in US
Leadership: Team growth in cross-department & direct reports with limited turnover
upLift 5 Product Launch: Led strategy for development of upLift 5 brand & all product assets - A new form of anti-aging device backed by scientific studies. Assembled a team of marketing, creatives, & PR to support the brand’s introduction through packaging, website development, photo & video shoots, Amazon content (A+, B+, store), social media and more.
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2025 Effies Final Round Judge (Commerce & Shopper)
2023 Chief Marketer PRO Award: Best use of Shopper Marketing - Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream “Have Happy on Hand”
2019 NUSA ‘True North’ Training Award (internal) - Omni Immersion & Planning Experience
2016 OMA Silver (POS) - Tradewinds Jimmy Buffett’s Island Tea
2013 Chief Marketer Best Logal/Regional Campaign - Poland Spring
2019 - Present
“McCord has been an incredible partner over these last several years. In particular, I have valued not only his deep strategic planning capabilities and campaign/project management acumen, but also his highly-collaborative approach and sage counsel in tackling the many business challenges that have arisen as we have scaled the scope and depth of our shopper marketing practice at Dreyer's."
Steffanie Magnus Commercial Strategy & Enablement Director
VP, Commerce & Retail Planning February, 2023 - Present
Lead Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream business to 4x SOW growth and $2mm+ in incremental projects since 2019. During this tenure DGIC became the #1 ice cream manufacturer in the US (2022).
Winner: Chief Marketer PRO Amard: Best Use of Shopper Maketing (2023); Led to $160mm in just attributable sales (min. $5+ ROAS).
9 direct reports, including retail field team. Team grew from 4 to 10 under my management, building SOWs, capabilities, and evolving the team along with the client and market needs
Lead development of 20+ retailer-specific plans each year, writing or managing on all channels
Work closely with all retail media networks and 3rd-party vendors on planning, execution, measurement, and optimization
Support shopper/integrated new business & lead new Solo/Dart relationship
Close collaboration with sales to ensure plan & investment alignment, consistent engagement for real-time optimization & review, execution, and implementing programs based on retailer needs
Copywriting for all portfolio & shopper-specific needs
Plan & execute commerce-driven sponsorships & events
Lead all planning & execution for Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream account
Agency lead for Near East execution of photo shoot & retail toolkit
Account Director April, 2021 - February, 2023
Account Supervisor June, 2019 - April, 2021
Serve as key agency contact on all omni-channel executions for the Nestlé Ice Cream Portfolio
Agency lead for Fujifilm, including digital, in-store, & social photoshoots
Develop final 2019 Nestlé recaps, including national & key retailer programming
Lead 2020 Nestlé Ice Cream national planning & support account specialists on retailer plans
Manage financials on $1.4mm of business, including SOW development, budget allocation & reconciliation, profitability analysis, & revenue projections. $250k incremental
Copywriting on both Nestlé & Fujifilm projects
Manage creative development for all assets across both accounts
Account Manager (contract) March - June, 2019
Production lead on company-wide experiential training events in Omni-channel marketing for Nestlé USA
Partner with executive client team to develop all training content & activities, including in-depth research of omni-channel capabilities for multiple key retailers & outside vendors
Manage on-site execution & logistics for six training events with both traditional presentations & brainstorms and off-site travel experiences, reaching over 500 employees
Manage creation of all elements, including multiple videos (both animated & live-action), simulated online experiences, and printed materials
Copywriting for all elements and lead finalization of presentation deck(s)
"McCord's Expertise and knowledge within the retail space drives bith agility and performance for a team. In today's environment the combination of agility and differential outcomes is invaluable, and McCord architects both beautifully."
Matthew Rader
Sr. Shopper Marketing Manager
SVP, Integrated Marketing
2017 - 2018
"...immediately upon hiring, McCord flexed into varying positions (conceptor, account lead, field operations). Whatever role we needed at the moment, McCord stepped in to fill it and did it all with a smile."
Kim Lawton Co-founder & Chief Innovation officer
Sr. Program Manager (freelance) July - November, 2018
Lead in-market execution for Poland Spring Hydration Station & ‘Calling 207’ tour, including program sweepstakes, public relations, social photography, and philanthropic events
Maintain client relationship and lead local development opportunities
Direct program recap and analysis
Execute over 35 events, including partner relationships & pop-up activations
Research & recommend local opportunities based on market expertise
Strategic Account Manager (freelance) December, 2017 - July, 2018
Serve as key account manager across Nestle portfolio, managing experiential plan creation for 4 brands, with total budgets of over $1.5mm
Develop & execute digital, social (paid & organic), influencer, and media elements to complement experiential activations
Lead development of plan and serve as key part of new business pitch team for Poland Spring
Assist in creative ideation & development for all Nestle projects
Collaborate across departments to bring new business projects from initial research and briefing through final execution
"McCord is strategically minded and solution oriented, often contributing to ideas. He has a strong understanding of the creative process and its importance to great work."
Blake Bentzen Director of Creative Strategy
2016 - 2017
"It’s hard to come across standout talent like McCord Chapman. The results of those campaigns that he helped create contributed to more than 1M units sold within the first 1.5 years after launch. Needless to say, it was a success and I recommend McCord for any of your marketing or client management needs.”
Jason Coe HP Sprocket Brand Manager
Account Supervisor March - November, 2017
Serve as key client contact for all projects across ‘star’ products in home printing portfolio, including worldwide product launches & updated communications
Oversee creative development and execution of HP’s US sales meeting, supporting entire product portfolio
Manage over $500,000 of incremental work across multiple business units
Manage one direct report
Senior Account Executive August, 2016 - February, 2017
Manage commercial PC business, including worldwide product launches
Develop product marketing strategy directly with executive clients
Oversee production, structure, and story of executive presentations with global managing director
Lead execution of incremental projects, including creative development & production of 20+ digital & print assets during 2017’s Mobile World Congress, resulting in over 10mm impressions
Support ecommerce asset development across entire HP printing & PC portfolio
2012 - 2016
"McCord is a forward thinking, dynamic marketing professional with a proven ability to marry consumer insights with client business objectives in order to craft best-in-class marketing and promotional programs.”
Will Norton Management Supervisor
Account Supervisor October, 2015 - August, 2016
Lead 2017 shopper and experiential planning for multiple brands with inter agency team
Manage all strategy, execution, and projects for multiple brand managers
Work directly with client business unit director to manage workflow and ensure visibility
Serve as experiential support across Nestle Waters Portfolio, assisting in ideation & leading executions
Manage development & execution of 12 brand activations at national sales meeting
Manage one direct report
Serve as key client contact for multiple brands on experiential and shopper programs, including sweepstakes, retailer programs, merchandising development, and couponing
Develop, manage, and execute experiential programs with budgets above $500,000, including leadership of multiple partner relationships, resulting in over 1mm samples
Account Executive September, 2014 - October, 2015
Associate Account Executive March, 2013 - September, 2014
Participate in strategic planning, management and coordination of brand activation at large events, including the New York City Marathon, Boston Marathon, Lollapalooza and the World Series of Beach Volleyball
Manage all in-kind donations & asset releases for over 200 events each year
Strategic Research Coordinator January, 2012 - March, 2013
Participate in deep strategic thinking for a wide range of brands and services
Serve on new business team leveraging research, analytics & writing skills
Participate in insight-driven ideation & program development initiatives across multiple clients, including new business (Brands include: Bombay Sapphire, Dewars, Playtex, Schick, Cessna)
Conduct consumer research, including ritual, historical, psychological and academic studies along with consumer interviews and competitive analysis in order to compile relevant information to drive strategic insights
Manage all timelines and deliverables for creative lead