Carrie King

Creative Forces is a group of international award-winning visual storytellers who specialize in creating break-through brand strategies that deliver high-profile and extremely profitable market positions. Our focus is on forging powerful, emotional and memorable experiences that resonate loyalty with the target audience. This includes client collaboration from the ideation process, throughout all phases of dynamic production management and project execution for large, medium and small-scale promotions across all mediums, including creative writing; on and off-air video production; digital online; print; guerrilla tactics and direct communication platforms for B2B and B2C projects. Audience research guides detailed creative briefs to keep all project partners focused and on-brand throughout every step of the creative process. Creative Forces also provides full service event management and execution for corporate and private events. As our name implies, we are passionate about all things creative and look forward to being a Creative Force on all of your most important brand endeavors and marketing projects.

• Create a solid foundation and infrastructure for the Creative Services team

• Lead the brand development and marketing efforts for duopoly (FOX and MyNet) in the nation's #3 market

• Additional focus on programming; developing unique news promotion strategies and executing the branding of news product on FOX

• Responsible for building and managing the creative team, while establishing a positive and powerful creative culture

• Complete responsibility for building and managing all Community Affairs efforts; forging strategic partnerships; ideation and execution of all on-and off-air special projects and events

• Administer and closely monitor the stations' use of on-air promotional time, building multi/media marketing plans with maximum efficiencies including outside media for both stations, establishing and monitoring the graphic on-air look and brand integrity of both stations, and manage all aspects of stations' social media promotional strategies and outreach within the community

• Act as main point of contact for networks, syndicators and corporate marketing and liason with other departments including Advertiser Sales and News

Played a key role in regionalizing the creative function across Tribune Company's  23-station broadcast group. Directly responsible for elevating brand identity with tangible incremental rating and revenue increases at eleven broadcast stations, including two national cable networks and multiple FOX, ABC and CW affiliates, in addition to legacy station, WGN-TV Chicago.  Created a powerful creative culture by establishing the organizational framework for a regional creative team and hired 26 artists to execute at the highest possible creative standards, while branding and innovating at the leading edge.

• Highly articulate, positive motivator with strong ability to execute project strategies that lead to successful outcomes

• Responsible for leading multiple on and off-channel redesigns, elevating brand identity at nation's only true Superstation.  Played key role in developing strategies that improved ratings, helped drive distribution and drove significant levels of  ad revenue

• Elevated brand identity in order to achieve incremental rating and revenue growth across 11 broadcast stations throughout the Central U.S., (including 2 national cable networks)

• Responsible for $10M annual media budgets, with oversight of research; B2B, B2C strategies and advertising at scale, across all mediums

• Developed non-traditional media relationships across Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Publishing and Chicago Cubs to maximize sales efforts and audience growth.Negotiations netted multi-million dollar no-charge media exposure 

• Oversaw Community Relations efforts across station group to ensure all partnerships and events were on-brand and worthy of station focus, time and involvement

• Lead the creative strategy/execution for launch & post launch efforts for new digital multicast retro network, Antenna TV as well as myriad new programs and interstitial programming concepts, including innovative breakthroughs in news formats such as NewsFix and Eye Opener.  Created soup-to-nuts launch packages for: The Bill Cunningham Show (now in nat'l syndication); NewsFix; EyeOpener; Movie Underground, Video Rest Stop; History of the Future, Sky Dives, Outta Sight Retro Nights and many more

• Managed all on- and off-air advertising and promotion for only true national Superstation reaching 75 million cable and satellite viewers across the U.S.  Responsible for the strategic development of entertainment and sports brands, on and off-channel creative, and all outside media placement

• Oversaw all consumer, ad sales and affiliate marketing efforts, including development of local promotions, sales collateral and affiliate launch kits

• Orchestrated multiple, complete network rebranding efforts, including logo redesigns, on-air and original music repackaging 

• Negotiated all on and off-channel trade and consumer media planning, placement and creative, helping the company earn money via holds on national spot media cable inventory and cash rebates, airline trips, cruises, etc.with media partners vs. spending money without tangible ROI 

• Responsible for all Community Affairs; Advertiser and Affiliate Special Events

• Transitioned from head Creative of local cable news brand to a  national general entertainment Superstation brand

• Developed, negotiated and executed all consumer and trade, grass roots & mass media campaigns

• Created first mass media e-blast strategy/execution for network, targeting viewers as well as advertisers and cable/satellite operators across the U.S.

• Responsible for managing all aspects of large scale special events, including Cubs Spring Training events in Arizona for high-level VIP Ad and Affiliate Sales executives

• Responsible for Emmy award-winning rebranding and increase of audience/incremental ratings for Chicagoland's only 24-hour cable news channel

• Developed brand messaging that resonated credibility, authenticity and pride of home

• Launched original programming packaging for: Good Eating, Making Money and Metromix

• Created Community Relations team; connecting viewers with brand at the local level, through multiple grass roots tactics and large to small-scale participation community events; i.e., the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, the Chicago Auto Show, Cubs commemorative days at Wrigley Field, etc.