Making the Customer the Hero
Making the Customer the Hero
Making the Customer the Hero
Role / Title
Director, Brand & Creative
Company
Articulate
Industry
EdTech
Year
2025
Project
"On Purpose" Campaign
Role / Title
Director, Brand & Creative
Company
Articulate
Industry
EdTech
Year
2025
Project
"On Purpose" Campaign
Role / Title
Director, Brand & Creative
Company
Articulate
Industry
EdTech
Year
2025
Project
"On Purpose" Campaign
Every customer story centered the Articulate brand. "On Purpose" needed a different angle.
Articulate is an e-learning software company serving 150 million learners. It's moving through a new chapter all at once, repositioning and rebranding for the AI era, overhauling the product itself, and expanding from a US-based category leader into a global brand reaching audiences it's never spoken to before.
Marketing, content, and brand each told customer stories their own way, but all of them centered the company, reading corporate and training-flavored instead of human. "On Purpose" needed to flip that, putting real people, not Articulate, at the center of the story.
01.
Context
Most of the campaigns for Articulate up to this point focused on feature releases and “what’s new” in our product. They were void of emotion. I partnered with the Director of Content and her team to work on a business case that would focus on more emotional stories directly from our customers. It ultimately got approved by our Chief Commercial Officer.
02.
Problem
Getting three teams onto one storytelling framework was an easy problem to solve for based on the relationships I had already built. The harder one: no comparable program existed inside Articulate to point to, and nothing proved yet that centering real people over the company would actually perform.
Step one was convincing executives to fund something with no comparable precedent inside Articulate. Step two was executing it as the first brand-led content program: real customers and nonprofit partners as the story instead of the company itself.
03.
How I Moved the Org
I led creative strategy, project plan, resourcing approach, campaign strategy, and production of "On Purpose" end to end with close co-partnership from the Content team. The entire program was designed from scratch as a full branded content program rather than a single campaign, then built to repeat annually instead of running once. It went omnichannel from day one: a storytelling-first microsite, a print magazine, a social media campaign, and email, and it's since grown into a dedicated storytelling space at our event booths and tradeshows.
Getting partner organizations to feel accurately represented meant the storytelling had to hold up to the people actually living it. “On Purpose” 2026 was a finalist for the Content Marketing Institute Awards in three categories: Best Publication, Print or Digital; Best Content-Driven Website; Best Interview or Profile.
01.
Context
Most of the campaigns for Articulate up to this point focused on feature releases and “what’s new” in our product. They were void of emotion. I partnered with the Director of Content and her team to work on a business case that would focus on more emotional stories directly from our customers. It ultimately got approved by our Chief Commercial Officer.
02.
Problem
Getting three teams onto one storytelling framework was an easy problem to solve for based on the relationships I had already built. The harder one: no comparable program existed inside Articulate to point to, and nothing proved yet that centering real people over the company would actually perform.
Step one was convincing executives to fund something with no comparable precedent inside Articulate. Step two was executing it as the first brand-led content program: real customers and nonprofit partners as the story instead of the company itself.
03.
How I Moved the Org
I led creative strategy, project plan, resourcing approach, campaign strategy, and production of "On Purpose" end to end with close co-partnership from the Content team. The entire program was designed from scratch as a full branded content program rather than a single campaign, then built to repeat annually instead of running once. It went omnichannel from day one: a storytelling-first microsite, a print magazine, a social media campaign, and email, and it's since grown into a dedicated storytelling space at our event booths and tradeshows.
Getting partner organizations to feel accurately represented meant the storytelling had to hold up to the people actually living it. “On Purpose” 2026 was a finalist for the Content Marketing Institute Awards in three categories: Best Publication, Print or Digital; Best Content-Driven Website; Best Interview or Profile.
01.
Context
Most of the campaigns for Articulate up to this point focused on feature releases and “what’s new” in our product. They were void of emotion. I partnered with the Director of Content and her team to work on a business case that would focus on more emotional stories directly from our customers. It ultimately got approved by our Chief Commercial Officer.
02.
Problem
Getting three teams onto one storytelling framework was an easy problem to solve for based on the relationships I had already built. The harder one: no comparable program existed inside Articulate to point to, and nothing proved yet that centering real people over the company would actually perform.
Step one was convincing executives to fund something with no comparable precedent inside Articulate. Step two was executing it as the first brand-led content program: real customers and nonprofit partners as the story instead of the company itself.
03.
How I Moved the Org
I led creative strategy, project plan, resourcing approach, campaign strategy, and production of "On Purpose" end to end with close co-partnership from the Content team. The entire program was designed from scratch as a full branded content program rather than a single campaign, then built to repeat annually instead of running once. It went omnichannel from day one: a storytelling-first microsite, a print magazine, a social media campaign, and email, and it's since grown into a dedicated storytelling space at our event booths and tradeshows.
Getting partner organizations to feel accurately represented meant the storytelling had to hold up to the people actually living it. “On Purpose” 2026 was a finalist for the Content Marketing Institute Awards in three categories: Best Publication, Print or Digital; Best Content-Driven Website; Best Interview or Profile.
The Proof
+29%
Growth in featured organizations from year 1 to 2
750+
Applications received for the 2027 program
10
Countries reached via web
3
2026 CMI Awards Finalist categories
The Proof
+29%
Growth in featured organizations from year 1 to 2
750+
Applications received for the 2027 program
10
Countries reached via web
3
2026 CMI Awards Finalist categories
The Proof
+29%
Growth in featured organizations from year 1 to 2
750+
Applications received for the 2027 program
10
Countries reached via web
3
2026 CMI Awards Finalist categories
"[Trace] discovered the publication with the inaugural edition and knew immediately they wanted to be part of it. Two things stood out to them: the process was easy to complete and felt respectful of their time in a landscape where many orgs are asking the world of applicants for a chance at inclusion, and the story-based format resonated. They appreciated that we weren't just asking for numbers, and that we made space for purpose-driven work in today's climate."
Sara H.
Content Lead, Articulate
"[Trace] discovered the publication with the inaugural edition and knew immediately they wanted to be part of it. Two things stood out to them: the process was easy to complete and felt respectful of their time in a landscape where many orgs are asking the world of applicants for a chance at inclusion, and the story-based format resonated. They appreciated that we weren't just asking for numbers, and that we made space for purpose-driven work in today's climate."
Sara H.
Content Lead, Articulate
"[Trace] discovered the publication with the inaugural edition and knew immediately they wanted to be part of it. Two things stood out to them: the process was easy to complete and felt respectful of their time in a landscape where many orgs are asking the world of applicants for a chance at inclusion, and the story-based format resonated. They appreciated that we weren't just asking for numbers, and that we made space for purpose-driven work in today's climate."
Sara H.
Content Lead, Articulate
