Working in-house at Universal Orlando Resort taught me how to market an experience—not just a product. The brand had to create an emotional connection across an entire destination, from theme parks and attractions to hotels, restaurants, events and everything in between.
My work lived across campaigns, social, video, editorial, experiential and emerging digital experiences, always balancing big creative ideas with business objectives, Guest behavior, operational realities and the complexities of a globally recognized entertainment brand.
It was also where I learned firsthand what it takes to steward a beloved brand: protect what makes it unmistakable while constantly finding new ways for Guests to experience it.
Holiday Like This Campaign
Goal: Position holidays at Universal a little differently.
Art Direction by Erik McGrew and Paula Marzetti
Best Of Social Media, AAF Addys 2020
Let’s get the party started.
TAKING THE CAMPAIGN BEYOND THE FEED
The Holiday Like This campaign was born out of positioning of Universal as the “fun”, “different” theme park. Universal has the energy and provocativeness that Disney lacks, and the new positioning seeks to harness that to its fullest potential.
I led the charge on a bold positioning. While our main competitor may wait to start celebrating the holidays when it’s deemed appropriate, Universal does the exact opposite. The holiday season is a mindset, and all rules and constraints should go out the window.
Holiday Like This wasn't confined to traditional campaign channels. We brought the idea into the real world, inviting local influencers and theme park voices to experience the campaign firsthand and help kick off the season.
It was an early lesson in something that's become even more important today: the people experiencing a brand can also become some of its most powerful storytellers.
This campaign empowered the person, giving our fans the opportunity to let loose and get the party started.
I wrote the brand positioning, manifestos, editorial copy and all social content for this campaign.
The anthem that drove the entire campaign, these words spoke to the essence of Universal's holiday campaign positioning.
Then Universal's own Halloween Horror nights wanted to join the party. This campaign encouraged people to start celebrating the holidays early—so early that Halloween might miss its moment of glory. And of course HHN couldn't let that happen...
Taking things offline, we invited local influencers and theme park gurus to a Holiday Like This event to kick-off the season. This was the credential given to each guest.
As a copywriter for Universal, I often was assigned content writing tasks for the Discover Universal blog. I concepted, wrote and edited many blog entries from 2019 to 2020 just as the blog was rebranding and finding its way in a new social media-driven editorial world.
Holiday Hotline
No matter where you are in the world, everyone needs some holiday cheer. Call the Hotline—and you too can Holliday Like This.
I came up with the concept, wrote the scripts, selected talent and ran the recording sessions to nail this awesome immersive experience for our guests.
The Hotline was advertised on all of Universal's social channels, leading to holiday connections with people all over the globe.
TURNING A CAMPAIGN INTO AN EXPERIENCE.
What if the holiday campaign wasn't something Guests just watched—but something they could actually interact with?
As part of Holiday Like This, I concepted the Holiday Hotline, an interactive experience that brought Universal’s irreverent holiday personality directly to Guests. I developed the concept, wrote the scripts, helped select the voice talent and led the recording sessions—taking the idea from an early creative thought through production and launch.
Promoted across Universal’s social channels globally, the Hotline gave Guests another way into the campaign beyond traditional advertising and extended the brand story into something they could actively experience.
It was an early lesson in a principle that still shapes how I think about marketing today: the best brand ideas don’t just tell people about an experience. They invite people into it.
Click to hear what you might have heard if you called the Hotline yourself.
Volcano Bay As Zodiac Signs
Strategy insights told us how much our fans wanted to be recognized and find their niché within Universal’s brand. This is a tactic where we applied that theory to Universal’s water park, Volcano Bay.
In a style very much á la Buzzfeed, people could interact with Universal’s IG story and find which Volcano Bay ride was most like them—their Zodiac sign that is.