Dan Bucko
Senior Creative Director
Summary
Strategic thinker with strong analytical skills who sees the big picture. Able to manage creative, strategy & marketing teams and cross-functional disciplines internally and manage multiple vendors and clients externally. Brand evangelist, marketing strategist, senior creative director, multimedia manager, product developer, database director, award-winning designer and team leader. Expert brand vision, development, alignment and management. Proven team leadership and team management experience. Successful director, designer, photographer, manager, marketer, owner, strategist and facilitator.
- Agency and brand experience
- Fortune 500 retail branding and advertising
- Blue sky strategy with hands-on execution
- New product development, implementation and sales
- New business development, client pitching, client review
- Creative process creation and implementation and project management
- Creative principal, marketing and advertising lead
- Responsible for creative teams, freelance artists, programmers, vendors, clients, product and project management
- Blank page to multi-faceted long-term solutions
- Corporate to cutting-edge, e-commerce to entertainment
- Pro bono to seven figure project budgets
- Fast-paced, multi-project creative and management problem solving
- Multi-national cross-media branding, advertising and marketing campaigns
- Seasonal marketing & branding, tier 1 messaging & copywriting
- Studio & location lifestyle & product photo shoot planning & execution
- Awarding-winning graphic designer & creative artist
- Team, individual, partnership and freelance environments
Experience
Senior Creative Director
Vistage Worldwide, Inc. / San Diego, CA
I directly manage a team of creatives in the Brand-Communications group who oversee the Vistage brand, creative assets, video and photo studio, marketing collateral, digital asset management system and process, dot.com properties, events, social media, advertising portal, project management and intranet properties of Vistage Worldwide, Inc. I was brought in to refresh the brand, create a brand guide and develop a creative process to consistently and effectively execute print, digital, social and event experiences. I manage over $1m in annual printing and mailing. Our mission is to build and deliver on a superior brand promise, and to increase member, speaker, sponsor and Chair acquisition and retention for the Vistage Worldwide community.
We brand over 50 events nation-wide annually, work on many simultaneous, day-to-day, cross channel advertising and marketing campaigns and develop all branded assets for the company including illustration, photography, video and identity.
I won the Employee of the Year award in 2017, given to one individual each year who best represents the company values and mission and who has a major impact on the overall business success.
Associate Creative Director
Petco / San Diego
I led a team of four creatives at Petco on the emerging business team that was responsible the rebranding and day-to-day advertising of Unleashed by Petco, Pals Rewards, Pooch Hotel and the Petco Foundation brands. I was brought in to rebrand the Unleashed by Petco brand and create a process to consistently and efficiently design print, digital, social and in-store experiences that deliver on brand promise and personality. I helped the company go from 50 stores to over 120 stores nation-wide and implemented the new brand across all channels including grand opening, direct mail, in-store collateral, email, web & landing pages, banner advertising, mobile experience, online video, CRM and more. I was in charge of seasonal messaging, creative concepting and execution. I planned and managed photo and video asset creation.
I had 4 direct reports who I managed, mentored, delegated and reviewed. I also managed any work that was delegated to outside printers and agencies.
I helped concept and lead teams on Petco initiatives such as private brand, packaging, Petco seasonal campaigns, corporate communications, in-store graphics and identity projects. Most recently I was the lead on all Petco holiday campaigns for 2015.
Education
University of California - Santa Barbara
B.A. Sociology
B.A. Degree of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Skills
