matt babz

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

1-

W
8
YEAR
S OF
EXPE
RIENC
E IN
DIGIT
AL
STRA
TEGY
AND
PROD
UCTI
ON
P
2
0
1
0

HOUGHT
ON
MIFFLIN
HARCOU
RT CORPO
RATE
COMMU
NICATIO
NS

P
re
s
e
nt
e
d
a
n
al
y
si
s
to
s
e
c
ur
e
$
1
5
m
ill
io
n
in
b
u
d
g
et
fo
r
o
v
e
r
h

aul of web presence.

2010
2007

2-

Developed
guidelines.

3-

Created design and programming for

HMHtv, an internal broadcasting system.

4-

Led design and development of assigned

sites.

interim

corporate

identity

DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT - EDUCATION GROUP

1-

Led team through development of e-mail

marketing campaigns.

2-

Helped develop programs and partnerships

to drive growth of email database to 7.5
million contacts.

3-

Implemented and integrated:

12-

Eloqua for marketing automation.

Quickbase for project management.

4-

Managed launch and execution of Virtual

Sampling,
an
interactive
textbookassessment platform.

5-

Assisted in managing the digital marketing

group, as team grew from 3 to 35
employees.

E-COMMERCE MARKETING
MANAGER
2007

2005

WAYFAIR INC.

1-

Managed
flagship
store:
RacksandStands.com through $30 million
revenue year.

2-

L
e
d
c
o
n
t
e
n
t
t
e
a
m
s
t
h
r
o
u
g
h
m
a
i
n
t
e
n
a
n
c
e

and
merch
andisi
ng
efforts
.

3-

1-

P
P
C
c EDUCATION
a
m UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
p
Bachelors of Arts
ai
g Film and Media Production
n Rochester, NY | 2004

Worke
d with
adverti
sing
teams
to
produ
ce

s.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
2005

CORPORATE EDUCATION CENTER

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Principles and Techniques of

UNIVERSAL BUZZ RADIO

2004

edit,

mix

Project Management
and produce recorded

ed

concerts and interviews of popular indie

matt babz

a
n
d
Hel
ped
perf
orm
audi
t
and
anal
ysis
of
HM
Hs
bra

bands

internet broadcast.

for

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

n
d
s

1-

Boston, MA |
2005

properties.

2-

Led categorization and datamapping efforts.

3-

Led site and social analysis

across brands.

4-

Produced documentation
support presentation.

to

i
n
t
e 2012 CURIOUS GEORGE AT
l
THE ZOO APP
l
e
1- Designed and developed
c
marketing microsite.
t
2- Created and routed design
u
assets.
a
3- Helped
develop
launch
l
campaign
with
marketing

tea
ms.

HMH
WEB
ANALYSIS
2011

1-

Exe
cute
d
ent
erpr
isewid
e
anal
ysis

of
HM
H
digit
al
pro
pert
ies.

2-

3-

4-

Dev
elop
ed
cas
e
for
web
pro
pert
y
con
soli
dati
on
and
over
haul
.
Des
igne
d
cha
rts
and
gra
phic
s.
Wo
n
sup
port

o
pursue enterprise overhaul.
f
m
a
j 2010 THE GLOBAL
o
EDUCATION CHALLENGE
r

1-

s
t
a
k
e
h
o
l
d
e
r
s
a
n
d
s
e
c
u
r
e
d
b
u
d
g
e
t
t
o

2-

SKILLS AND
CAPABILITIES
1

Web Design and

Development

Social
Marketing

Developed
social
ideation
forum seeking new ideas to
help transform education.

Email Marketing

Site
and
Analysis

Provided counsel to executive

leaders
and
major
stakeholders.

Presentation Design

3-

Led partner assessment and

selection process.

4-

Provided creative direction and

brand management.

Media

Social

6Management
Project

TOOLS AND
PLATFORMS
Marketing Platforms:

2010

THE OREGON TRAIL

FACEBOOK GAME
1-

Oversaw
design
and
development of web and social
channels.

2-

Provided creative direction and

information architecture plan.

3-

Developed
strategy.

4-

Managed
maintenance
of
digital channels through launch.

5-

Involved throughout creative

planning
and
game
development process.

social

marketing

Eloqua, Aprimo,
Quickbase,
Silverpop, Vtrenz,
SalesForce
Adobe Creative
Suite:
Photoshop,
Illustrator,
InDesign,Dreamwea
ver
Microsoft Office:
Excel, Word,
PowerPoint, Outlook
Analytic Applications:
Google Analytics,
Web Tends, Radian 6,
Meltwater

CMS:

matt babz
2012

HMH BRAND AUDIT AND

ANALYSIS

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

OVERVIEW
A comprehensive audit and analysis of all brands and
intellectual properties owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in
preparation for a major re-brand. My team collected financial
and trademark records, and surveyed internal stakeholders to
build an official list of active brands and attributes.

MY ROLE
I was responsible for difficult data work as well as
presentation design. I successfully led efforts to map
financial records to active trademarks. I also
categorized all brands by explicit criteria like parent
brand, brand level, and type, to help inform a brand
hierarchy chart, which I later produced.
RESULTS
Re-branding efforts are currently underway.
This research is helping support agency teams, while
also providing important information to sales and
marketing leadership.

matt babz
2012

APP

CURIOUS GEORGE AT THE ZOO

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

OVERVIEW
In April 2012, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt launched At
the Zoo, an app inspired by classic Curious George.
MY ROLE
I was responsible for the design and development of
the apps microsite. I also collaborated with marketing
and communication teams to help devise launch plans
and media outreach strategies.

RESULTS
At the Zoo was a hit. The landing page was
instrumental in the success of the launch campaign,
driving 75% of visitors to the app store.

1- 500,000 First-Week Downloads

2- 4-Star Rating (April 2012)
3- #1 Education App (April 2012)

matt babz

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

2011

HMH WEB
ANALYSIS

OVERVIEW
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt had accumulated a
collection of antiquated, yet active sites. While
executive leaders were aware the scattered digital
landscape might be problematic, the full scope, scale
and implications of the companys web presence were
not fully understood.

MY ROLE
I analyzed the performance of 65 customer-facing
sites and developed a presentation to unite
stakeholders.
To help articulate the cost of HMHs scattered web
presence, I provided competitive comparisons and
identified potential revenue opportunities. I estimated
that HMH could realize multi-million dollar
opportunities by developing advertising platforms and
integrating e-commerce and marketing sites.

RESULTS
The presentation raised awareness, united
stakeholders and was critical in securing $15M in
budget for the digital enterprise overhaul currently
underway.

matt babz
2011

THE GLOBAL EDUCATION

CHALLENGE

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

OVERVIEW
The Global Education Challenge provided a social
platform for educationalists, entrepreneurs, and
innovators to share and evaluate ideas to improve
education outcomes. The challenge was sponsored
by the HMH Innovation Fund, a $100 million fund, as
well as several teams from across Houghton Mifflin
Harcourts organization.
MY ROLE
I led early stage development efforts, shaping the
concept, identifying potential platforms vendors,
preparing RFP documentation and determining
budget sources.
After completing the assessment process, I
collaborated with creative teams from Fleishman
Hillard to develop art direction, and a content strategy
to frame the challenge. I illustrated the logo, and
created graphics. I also led programming of the sites
dynamics, and designed dashboards for internal
teams to track the communitys performance.
RESULTS
HMH awarded $250,000 in cash and prizes and
generated 1,700 original ideas from a community of
10,000 participants.

The 3 top ideas were presented in a colloquium-style event,

held in Washington, D.C., attended by top education thought
leaders.

matt babz
2011

GAME

THE OREGON TRAIL FACEBOOK

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

OVERVIEW
In February 2011, The Learning Company and Blue
Fang Games brought The Oregon Trail to Facebook.

MY ROLE
I led design and develop of OregonTrail.com and
managed maintenance of the site up until launch. I
also helped develop and execute the go-to-market
social strategy, and participated in creative meetings
throughout the development of the game.

RESULTS
The game was an immediate success and gained
popularity with social gamers and nostalgic fans. The
release received national media attention and rode a
wave of momentum through launch.

12-

Top National Twitter Trend on Launch Day

850,000 MAU (February 2011)

matt babz

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

OVERVIEW
2009

APP

HMH VIRTUAL SAMPLING

When Virtual Sampling was introduced in 2009,

it was the first time an education publisher had
offered school administrators, staff, and
students the chance to review textbook
programs digitally.
MY ROLE

I worked on nearly every element of the project,

providing creative direction, while programming
dynamic marketing programs to track and score
leads. I developed landing pages, web forms,
and registration emails for all 120+ textbook
programs offered in the first year of Virtual
Sampling.
RESULTS

1- Generated 250,000 leads

2- Has helped HMH realize

a 45 percent

average annual market share since its release

matt babz
2012

CARMEN
SANDIEGO

Matthew Babiarz | mattbabz@gmail.com | mattbabz.com | 617-652-0008

OVERVIEW
Teams at HMH are working to develop new strategies
to revitalize Carmen Sandiego, an iconic brand with a
nostalgic following.

MY ROLE
Im actively working with brand leads to develop a goforward strategy. Thus far, we have successfully
negotiated a movie deal, identified potential game
development partners, and implemented an interim
social strategy, which embraces nostalgia.

COMPLETED ACTIVITIES

1- Provided

counsel to brand leads through movie

and merchandising agreements.

2- Helped develop creative guidelines.

3- Re-illustrated logo.
4- Collaborated

with

social

media

development of interim social strategy.

lead

on