Blake Carbone
About
Hi, I'm Blake.
I love solving problems: big, small, and enormous. I see processes and logistics as a design challenge – a puzzle waiting to be cracked. I use an investigative approach to understanding an entire design system in an effort to improve business performance by systematically removing waste and reducing variation. My extensive experience in marketing and brand management has given me a knack for making the creative process within a business more structured and streamlined, helping employees move faster and produce better work.
I am a people-first leader with a demonstrated ability to influence at all levels.
I find the greatest satisfaction in fostering the development of individuals and seeing my team and the business succeed as a result.
By generating fresh conversations about existing problems and integrating the right stakeholders, systems, and tools to solve challenges, my portfolio work showcases my ability to successfully operationalize processes from conception through execution, ensuring all elements are being created, produced, and delivered on time and within budget.
I currently reside in Buffalo, NY, and am looking forward to my next adventure.
Go Bills!
Freelance
Creative Producer
2022 - Present
I’m an award-winning creative producer who turns ideas into successful, completed projects. I manage the gray area between creative and operational processes, orchestrating ideas, resources, stakeholders, and contributors, creating efficiencies and process improvements along the way.
As a producer, my clients aren’t just getting a project manager – they’re gaining a dedicated partner committed to bringing creative visions to life efficiently and effectively. I help clients and agencies strategically scope, plan, and execute pre and post-production projects, ensuring all elements are created, produced, and delivered on time, and that communication is clear from start to finish.
With over 10 years of experience across various verticals including full-service marketing agencies, startups, and in-house teams, I’ve successfully managed B2B, B2C, and C2C campaigns. I’m the go-to producer for project, production, and operational strategies across multimedia campaigns – print, digital, social media, broadcast, video, graphic design, web and app development, photography, and event planning.
Recent clients include Laetro and brands in the fashion, retail, sports, medical, tech, and e-commerce spaces.
Mercari
Senior Creative Operations Manager, Creative & Brand
2021 - 2022
Oversaw and operationalized all creative production from early ideation to final output for commercial shoots, multi-tiered marketing programs, e-commerce, and special projects. Shaped, drove, and documented foundational workflow models, from project intake to delivery, and introduced productivity tools to streamline creative capabilities allowing the organization to take on 65% more projects than the previous year.
Key Accomplishments
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Led and analyzed Creative & Brand financial and business operations as projects scaled by creating and sharing visual quarterly OKR reports with Marketing VPs by tracking specific KPIs.
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Increased department efficiency by 35% via onboarding and training remote teams, across various time zones, on Asana work management tool. Gained approval to utilize this tool through effective business case presentation to Marketing VPs on the ROI.
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Established brand consistency by centralizing all brand assets into one company-wide Data Asset Management (DAM) system (Frontify).
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Created an implementation plan, onboarding, and training materials.
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Managed the Creative & Brand budget, negotiated contracts, and was the primary contact for all agency and freelance partners.
New Era Cap
Project Manager, Creative Services
2018 - 2021
As New Era Cap's head Account Manager at The Martin Group, I was explicitly recruited by the New Era's VP of Strategic Branding to help plan, define and manage the creative design process in Buffalo, NY - the company's global headquarters.
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Managed the photo studio and ran project management for all design and photography requests related to sales, marketing, sponsorships, and events.
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Product Photography (POS): 42,000 products/year, 250,000 images/year
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Creative Projects: 1,300/year
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Established educational policies and procedures to ensure brand, campaign, and production guidelines were followed.
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Led cross-functional teams and external agencies through complex and sometimes unrelated workstreams to achieve a common goal.
Key Accomplishments
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Runner up for New Era Cap’s Valerie E. Koch “Rookie of the Year” Award; awarded to an employee who has had the biggest impact on the company during their rookie year.
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Worked closely with the Creative Director to reform the creative department’s organizational structure in order to design at scale; 35% increase in projects from 2018-2019.
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Headed creative workflow presentation by partnering with the SVP of Brand and Creative Director that was presented to the Executive team and senior leadership within product development, marketing and creative, wholesale retail and in-venue, digital and social.
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Collaborated with IT and Finance and built a business case to purchase new Macs for the Creative Services department resulting in a 30% increase in productivity.
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Annual performance reviews showcase my ability to exceed company expectations by going above and beyond my role and responsibilities.
New Era Cap Co., Inc. is an international lifestyle brand with an authentic sports heritage dating back 100 years. Best known for being the official on-field cap for Major League Baseball and the National Football League, New Era Cap is the brand of choice not only for its headwear collection, but also for its accessories and apparel lines for men, women and youth. The brand is worn as a symbol of self-expression by athletes, artists and some of the most interesting people around the globe. New Era Cap encourages people to truly express their personal style and individuality through its products. The Company is headquartered in Buffalo, NY and operates facilities in Canada, Europe, Brazil, Japan, and Hong Kong.
The Martin Group
Senior Brand Manager
2017
Brand Manager
2015 - 2017
Brand Coordinator
2014 - 2015
While at TMG, I directed and championed the strategic role of a client’s brand by developing and executing national and local marketing programs for the agency’s largest account, New Era Cap in addition to Under Armour, LIDS Sports Group and several smaller accounts within real estate, the non-profit sector, healthcare, and food & beverage.
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Wrote and presented high-level, forward-thinking Creative/Brand/Project Briefs to ensure client objectives and expectations are met on schedule and budget.
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Supervised the full scope of a project from start to finish including budgets and forecasts, campaign timelines and production schedules, project workflow, meetings and status reports.
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Strengthened relationships between agency and accounts by writing proposals and matching them with appropriate products and services to ensure agency profitability.
Key Accomplishments
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Appointed as lead Account Manager for the agency’s new business vertical, Martin Sport.
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By focusing on new revenue streams, I helped to increase agency profitability within the Under Armour account by 405% in less than a year.
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Personally selected by New Era Cap’s VP of Strategic Branding, Lindsey Koch, as lead Account Manager for all Sponsorships and Special Events including Super Bowl 50, NYC Men’s Fashion Week, and All-Star Game Weekend parties for both MLB and the NBA
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Managed the workflow of up to 40 projects at a time and led an internal team of 6 people for each of New Era’s key divisions: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Golf, Motorsports, Entertainment and Special Events.
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By cultivating relationships with each category manager, our team was able to increase agency profitability by 15% each year, particularly the Special Events category with an increased profitability rate of 50% within 2016 alone.
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I maintained an agency utility rate between 85% - 115%.
The Martin Group (TMG) is a full-service advertising, marketing and public relations agency that focuses on establishing meaningful partnerships with its clients through big ideas, attention to detail, personal service and collaboration.