From Brand Strategy to Market Launch

Creating a cohesive identity and marketing ecosystem for Kayak Smokeless Tobacco.

Kayak entered a competitive smokeless tobacco market with a distinct positioning: a product designed for outdoor enthusiasts who value adventure, authenticity, and self-reliance. As part of the launch team, I helped develop the visual identity and marketing ecosystem that brought the brand to life across digital, retail, experiential, and consumer touchpoints.

Project Snapshot

Industry: Consumer Packaged Goods
Audience: Outdoor enthusiasts, hunters, anglers, and smokeless tobacco consumers
Channels: Website, Email, Retail, Social Media, Video, Print, Point of Sale
Role: Art Director
Deliverables: Brand Identity • Creative Direction • Content Production • Digital Marketing • Website Design • Retail Activation

Establish a tobacco brand in a crowded category while creating a distinct identity that would resonate with hunters, anglers, campers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
Art Director responsible for brand development, creative strategy, visual design, content direction, and execution across digital, retail, print, social, photography, and video initiatives.
Developed a cohesive visual identity system and integrated marketing toolkit designed to communicate authenticity, ruggedness, and adventure. The resulting ecosystem provided consistency across every consumer touchpoint, from retail displays and digital campaigns to packaging, content creation, and experiential activations.

To support long-term brand consistency, I developed a comprehensive set of brand standards covering typography, visual identity, photography, messaging principles, and product presentation. The guide served as the foundation for internal teams, agency partners, and vendors across all channels.

Brand Guidelines

Developed organic social content that blended product promotion, educational content, and outdoor storytelling to keep Kayak's audience engaged beyond traditional advertising. From seasonal product features to blog promotion and animated product showcases, each piece reinforced the brand's adventurous personality while supporting broader marketing initiatives.

Social Storytelling

Product Launch Reel

Product Spotlight

Content Marketing / Blog Promotion

Photo & Video Shoots

To establish an authentic connection with outdoor consumers, I helped concept, art direct, and produce a library of lifestyle and product photography that captured the brand's adventurous spirit. Assets were leveraged across digital marketing, retail environments, social media, video content, and sales materials to create a consistent visual narrative.

Wheeling, WV (24fps Productions)

Stamford, CT (Eddie Berman Photography)

Beyond campaign development, I created a series of supporting brand assets, sub-brands, illustrations, and promotional lockups that helped reinforce Kayak’s outdoor positioning and create consistency across content, retail, and seasonal marketing initiatives.

Brand Extensions

Brand tagline lockup designed to reinforce Kayak's adventurous personality across marketing materials and consumer touchpoints.

Regional promotional seal designed to support localized marketing efforts and community engagement initiatives.

Seasonal brand seal developed to strengthen authenticity and deepen connections with hunting audiences during key promotional periods.

Hand-drawn illustrations created to support editorial content and provide a distinctive visual alternative to traditional lifestyle photography.

Visual identity created for a recurring content series focused on fishing tips, seasonal insights, and outdoor storytelling.

Website

Designed and maintained the brand website as a central hub for product education, storytelling, and consumer engagement. The site balanced regulatory requirements with an immersive brand experience, helping translate Kayak's outdoor positioning into a digital environment.

Homepage

About Us Page

Promotions Page

Email Marketing

Developed email campaigns that supported customer engagement throughout the marketing lifecycle—from editorial content and product launches to re-engagement initiatives and partner promotions. Each campaign was tailored to its audience while maintaining a consistent brand voice and visual identity.

Final Reminder

New Subscriber Follow-Up

Non-Openers

Brand & Editorial Newsletters

Regular newsletters combining seasonal content, outdoor lifestyle storytelling, and product promotion to keep subscribers engaged with the brand.

Re-engagement Campaign

Rather than sending the same message repeatedly, this campaign adapted creative and messaging based on customer behavior—targeting non-openers, creating urgency for inactive users, and delivering a tailored follow-up once customers entered the database.

Launch Email

Mining Industry Promotion

Promotional email developed for Mining People magazine to reach a key audience identified through consumer research. Because Kayak was founded in West Virginia, the campaign leveraged regional insights and targeted miners—a demographic with strong overlap among the brand's core outdoor consumer.

Digital Media

Created digital advertising assets across social, video, and display channels to increase brand awareness and drive consumer engagement. Creative was tailored to various audience segments while maintaining a cohesive brand experience across platforms.

VIDEO:

Provided art direction for the creation of this video with a production company, by providing a storyboard, PSD assets, stock imagery and video clips, giving input on voiceover talent and music choice, and providing feedback on WIP cuts. It was used for several applications including CTV, DOOH, rich media web & broadcast.

WEB BANNERS:

Digital Out Of Home (15-second Animation designed with Google Web Designer)

Print Media

Designed print collateral supporting retail, sales, and promotional initiatives. Materials extended the visual identity into tangible consumer touchpoints while reinforcing key brand messaging and product differentiation.

Direct Mail

Magazine

Point of Sale

Developed point-of-sale materials designed to capture attention and strengthen brand visibility in retail environments. From shelf displays to in-store signage, each execution translated the brand's outdoor identity into high-impact retail experiences.

Awareness Zone: Outside of Store