Strategic Clarity. Measurable Impact.

LATEST CASE STUDIES

Classroom with young students raising hands, girl with curly hair in foreground, other children and classroom decor in background. (FirstBook)
An electric vehicle charging station labeled WattAnywhere, located outdoors in a park-like setting with trees, and a white car parked nearby. (WattAnywhere)

  • The Context

    The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) has long served the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. As the largest Tibet support organization in the world, ICT helps Tibetans in their peaceful struggle for democracy and human rights, and in preserving Tibet’s ancient culture of wisdom.

    As ICT prepared to commemorate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday, the organization faced a rare combination of opportunity and risk.

    The campaign required global visibility, exceptional cultural sensitivity, and disciplined coordination across regions, partners, and channels—while reinforcing ICT’s long-term advocacy mission.

    ICT engaged me to design and lead a campaign that would do more than mark a milestone: it needed to create a unified global platform for engagement while protecting credibility across geopolitical, cultural, and organizational contexts.

    The Challenge

    ICT sought to:

    • Establish a cohesive global marketing and communications strategy that could resonate across cultures, generations, and beliefs

    • Create a unifying campaign narrative and identity to guide national and international activations

    • Enable partners and internal teams to execute confidently within clear brand and communications guardrails

    • Balance ambition with reputational risk in a highly sensitive international environment

    The Approach

    I partnered closely with ICT’s leadership to design and lead a campaign grounded in strategy, structure, and execution.

    Strategy

    • Defined campaign objectives and positioning, framing compassion as a unifying global force rooted in the Dalai Lama’s legacy

    • Developed the Compassion Rising World Tour concept, narrative framework, and messaging pillars

    • Led strategic discovery through executive interviews, workshops, research, and stakeholder input

    • Shaped integrated content and communications strategy spanning digital, PR, events, and media

    Structure

    • Designed a centralized global brand and communications framework governing all campaign activity

    • Established messaging standards, identity systems, and decision-making guardrails

    • Produced toolkits, press materials, and partner resources to enable consistent execution

    • Developed crisis communications protocols to manage geopolitical and cultural sensitivities

    Execution

    • Directed coordinated multi-channel activation across social, web, email, press, film screenings, and live events

    • Provided strategic and creative oversight to more than 50 international events

    • Partnered with leadership and external agencies to maintain cohesion while allowing for local relevance

    • Built transition frameworks so ICT’s teams could sustain the platform beyond the anniversary year

    The Outcome

    • A globally unified campaign delivered across digital, film screenings, and 50+ coordinated events worldwide

    • Millions reached worldwide with sustained international media coverage

    • Initiative evolved from a single commemorative moment into a year-long global movement celebrating compassion as a unifying force.

    • Strong, adaptable campaign identity across markets

    • Global reach in the millions, with sustained international media coverage

    ICT gained a scalable marketing and communications framework that balanced ambition with discipline—enabling global participation without compromising credibility or coherence.

  • The Context

    FirstBook is a US and Canada-based nonprofit dedicated to expanding educational access for children and communities in need. As the organization evolved, its leadership recognized that its brand no longer fully reflected its full impact or future direction.

    They engaged me to strengthen the organization’s brand and marketing foundation while ensuring the new direction could be adopted consistently across teams, partners, and funders.

    The Challenge

    FirstBook needed to:

    • Clarify brand positioning, value proposition, and narrative

    • Align executive leadership around a shared strategic direction

    • Enable consistent use of the brand across channels and partnerships

    • Equip staff and partners to execute confidently

    • Support growth without slowing momentum

    The Approach

    I worked closely with FirstBook’s executive team to lead a comprehensive engagement grounded in strategy, structure, and execution.

    Strategy

    • Led discovery through executive interviews, facilitated workshops, and communications audits

    • Clarified brand positioning, value proposition, and narrative architecture

    • Aligned leadership around a refreshed mission, purpose, and voice

    Structure

    • Established brand governance principles, approval processes, and decision rights

    • Created a comprehensive Brand Playbook to guide application across channels

    • Designed internal enablement programs and training materials

    Execution

    • Developed a structured rollout and 12-month go-to-market roadmap

    • Supported teams through launch to ensure confidence and consistency

    • Embedded the brand across communications, partnerships, and engagement channels

    The Outcome

    • 100% executive alignment on the new brand narrative

    • 11% brand lift within two months of launch

    • Strong internal adoption and external consistency

    • A scalable brand system that could grow with the organization

    FirstBook emerged with a marketing and brand foundation that leaders trusted—and teams could apply every day.

  • The Context

    WattAnyWhere is a clean-energy company operating across Switzerland and France in a highly technical and regulated sector. As the company expanded, leadership needed a brand and marketing system that could clearly communicate its value to investors, partners, regulators, and the public—while remaining credible across markets.

    They engaged me to clarify positioning, strengthen marketing strategy, and build communications structures that could support growth without introducing unnecessary complexity.

    The Challenge

    WattAnyWhere needed to:

    • Clarify its brand positioning and value proposition in a complex technical space

    • Translate highly technical concepts into accessible narratives

    • Ensure consistency across markets and audiences

    • Support leadership and teams with guidance that could scale as the organization grew

    The Approach

    I partnered with leadership to develop a brand framework grounded in strategy, structure, and execution, calibrated to the company’s stage of growth and regulatory context.

    Strategy

    • Conducted executive interviews, research, and communications audits

    • Defined clear brand positioning, narrative pillars, and messaging architecture

    • Translated complex technical and sustainability concepts into accessible, audience-relevant language

    • Developed audience-specific marketing narratives for investors, partners, and public stakeholders

    Structure

    • Designed governance guidance appropriate to the company’s stage and regulatory context

    • Created messaging blueprints and brand frameworks

    • Established practical guardrails to support decision-making

    Execution

    • Applied the framework across digital channels and stakeholder communications

    • Supported leadership teams with tools and rollout guidance

    • Ensured alignment across Swiss and French markets

    The Outcome

    • Clear, credible brand positioning aligned to technical expertise and sustainability mission

    • Stronger consistency across communications and markets

    • Improved confidence in investor and partner conversations

    • A scalable brand system supporting long-term growth

    WattAnyWhere emerged with a disciplined foundation for marketing and communications—one designed to evolve alongside the business.

Visual Highlights

  • Cover page of a book titled 'First Book Brand Book & Style Guide' featuring four children reading and playing with books.

  • Cover page for the 2015 Foodist Awards featuring a collage of black and white photos of a restaurant, bartenders, a bar with bottles, and a chef, with purple accents and text celebrating Arizona food and beverage industry.

  • Two magazine covers, one with a food dish and the other with flowers, focusing on technology trends and culinary topics.

  • Cover page of a training presentation titled 'Brand Refresh Employee Training' by First Book, August 2023, featuring a young girl using a laptop.

  • Two promotional flyers for Arizona Breakfast Weekend. The left flyer features a breakfast dish with eggs, vegetables, and toast, with text about reasons to eat breakfast and pricing options. The right flyer shows a breakfast platter with eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, and waffles, with similar text about breakfast options and pricing.

  • Magazine magazine cover featuring a bartender pouring a cocktail and a man drinking beer, with titles about Arizona's brewing industry and liquid heritage.

  • Flyers advertising Arizona Restaurant Week, featuring images of various dishes, a bold red section with event details, and tips for participating with wine, photos, and social media tags.

Pie chart showing clients categorized into Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, NGO/Non-Profit/Child Advocacy, Environmental & Clean Tech, Construction & Building Materials, and Food & Beverage

Clients & Sectors Served

  • “I am so grateful for the exceptional work that Shannon has done supporting First Book with refining our brand messaging and strategic planning for our upcoming brand refresh. She has laid out a clear path to an otherwise daunting process. Her expertise, creative approach and strategic thinking have been instrumental in helping us to navigate this critical process in a way that will have significant impact on our success.”

    — Lisa Herling

    Vice President Marketing and Communications, First Book (USA/Canada)

  • "It’s been a great pleasure working with Shannon on our strategy and branding. Through the course of our collaboration, Shannon demonstrated outstanding skills, especially on: Strategic thinking: she gathered and analyzed complex technical and market data to help us to develop data-driven, effective brand positioning and identity. Leadership: she built positive relationships with each member of our executive team, working collaboratively with our diverse team to develop and align our brand strategy with the overall goals of our organization. She led us through a brand strategy workshop and various exercises in order to develop our vision, mission, brand pillars, value-propositions and overall brand platform. Focus on results: the strong branding platform she developed for us serves as a framework for all other marketing and strategic activities, which are aligned. Our marketing communications is strong and our focus is aligned as a result of her work."

    — Alexandre Laybros

    Co-Founder, WattAnyWhere (Switzerland/France)

  • “It is with great pleasure I recommend the services of Shannon Brennan for communications, marketing and brand strategy. Our engagement with Shannon began when we hired her to manage our statewide advertising and promotion for over 250 restaurants during Arizona Restaurant Week. Her detailed, results-driven work led us to expand the partnership. It evolved to encompass creative content and design, printing, development of both internal and external collateral and support in various other initiatives including Arizona Breakfast Weekend, the Foodist Awards, ARA Golf Classic and the ARA Digital Magazine. Through innovative approaches, we achieved significant outreach. Shannon multiplied our reach substantially and took us to the next level of success. This included creative contests, leveraging social media, digital platforms, value-ad negotiations, and unique strategies. Shannon positively engaged with multiple stakeholders, internally and externally. She included stakeholders, such as restaurants in promotions for our initiatives, increasing their satisfaction and driving their sales. In short, I am grateful to have the talent of Shannon at such a critical time for our association. Her integral part in our organization continues to help us succeed today.”

    — Steve Chucri, President and CEO, Arizona Restaurant Association