CASE STUDY 01 / BRAND STRATEGY + CREATIVE DIRECTION

New Relic Brand Transformation

Strategic creative lead and program architect for a full-scale enterprise brand build, from research and audit through identity system, campaign framework, and org-wide launch.

The Challenge

New Relic had brand recognition but not brand conviction. The identity had accumulated over years without a cohesive visual system, a differentiated voice, or a narrative architecture that could carry consistently across the customer journey. Competitors were building around legacy stacks. New Relic was building something new. The brand needed to signal that.

THE ASK

Assess the existing New Relic brand
Define what comes next for New Relic
Build the infrastructure to make it real and scalable across the entire organization

My Role

Strategic brand lead and program architect and producer. I owned the process end to end: from research design and executive brief through creative direction, agency management, Figma system build, and phased rollout. I partnered closely with the Design Director and external agencies, providing creative direction while also doing hands-on work across tooling, tokenization, and operations.

The Process

Research and Audit

Led brand research with agency partner. Fathom & Hatch, interviewing executive leadership, customers, and long-tenured employees to map equity, gaps, and opportunity
Synthesized findings into a strategic brand brief that defined platform, voice, and visual direction
Ran org-wide audit across marketing, sales, and product touchpoints to understand inconsistencies and establish baseline

Creative Strategy and Campaign Architecture

Developed full-funnel brand framework: Awareness, Consideration, Intent, Loyalty, each with distinct creative executions and channel guidance
Shaped enterprise storytelling approach: positioning customers as heroes, agents as supporting tools, and New Relic IO as the intelligent observability platform
Directed typographic voice and campaign headline system ('Authentically Technical Voice') grounded in customer research

Visual System and Creative Direction

Provided creative direction to Design Director and internal team across identity, color, typography, layout system, and design language
Directed AI imagery system in partnership with agency (Supervisors): translated visual direction into production brief, drove iterative prompting refinement, and oversaw delivery of a scalable low-poly image library for internal team use
Art directed social templates, competitive ad creative, VOC campaign assets, event materials, and onboarding content

Brand Infrastructure

Built Figma component library: tokenized design variables, established component architecture working from agency inputs alongside internal team
Provided brief, creative direction, and ops strategy for brand guidelines, voice and tone documentation, and booth toolkit
Built out Figma Buzz for integrated marketing team, providing creative direction across social and promotional applications
Architected Brandfolder structure and managed asset distribution at launch and ongoing self service

Rollout and Enablement

Mapped phased rollout timeline across six workstreams running in parallel
Created structured review gates for cross-functional partners including marketing, sales, product, and talent
Produced and CD'd New Relic Advance virtual event (late February 2026), including on-site creative direction and production oversight
Delivered Google Slides v1 to marketing leadership (January 2026), iterated to v2 for full org rollout (March 2026)

The Work

Key deliverables shipped across the full brand ecosystem:

Brand identity and visual system
Brand guidelines and voice and tone documentation
Figma component library with tokenized variables
Figma Buzz (integrated marketing social and promo system)
AI image library (low-poly style, agency-built tooling for internal team use)
Social templates and campaign creative
Booth toolkit
Google Slides dorporate deck template
Brand sizzle video
New Relic Advance hybrid virtual event production
newrelic.com homepage, navigation, and global styles

9 mo

research to full org launch

March ’26

company-wide rollout

6+

workstreams running in parallel

Homepage
Lorem ipsum

Driven by curiosity and built on purpose, this is where bold thinking meets thoughtful execution. Let’s create something meaningful together.

Integrity, creativity, and empathy shape the way we work. These aren't just words—they’re the foundation of everything we build. We believe in doing great work, building real relationships, and making it easy for you to get the results you’re looking for.

The Outcome

Phased rollout initiated September 2025 with social content, field events, and webinars. Full org launch March 2026 across web, tooling, guidelines, and enablement, reaching every cross-functional team.

DISCIPLINES

Brand Strategy / Creative Direction / Campaign Architecture / Visual Systems / AI Imagery Direction / Design Systems / Agency Management / Event Production / Creative Operations