Digital Retail
After the pandemic, auto companies realized they had to transform their business models.
Over 90% of customers start their car buying journey online, and according to Cox Automotive’s 2023 Customer Journey research, 71% of future customers expect a mix of online and in-person dealer support.
At Wells Fargo and Car-Mart, I applied a McKinsey model of digital transformation and design thinking methodologies to balance business value and customer success.
At Wells Fargo, I was recruited to build an innovative team of agile technologists and product leaders and a go-to-market strategy for Auto digital retailing to support a network of over 11,000 dealer partners, 3 million customers, and a loan portfolio of over $57 billion. Led direct and indirect-to-consumer initiatives (B2C/B2B).
Car-Mart was also in a similar transformative moment. As Chief Digital Officer, I led enterprise-wide internal and external teams to deliver a robust digital retailing platform that included lead management, prospecting, pricing and scoring, verifications, deal structuring, financing, cross-state taxes and fee calculations, and electronic closing documentation. As an integrated finance provider, Car-Mart is nationally ranked in the top five used car retailers with 154 stores and $1.4B in revenue.
*Details are under NDA.
Ally Mobile Launch
Despite the accolades received for being a forerunner in digital banking, we were surprisingly late to the game with a mobile banking app.
Like so many other banks, we could have just branded the standard “bank-in-a-box” mobile app with our signature plum design and been done. But that was not our style. Instead, our in-house design agency took on the challenge of designing an end-to-end mobile experience. In nine weeks, we delivered a Forrester award-winning mobile app experience with an unprecedented 96% usability completion score.
The design included a diary study, focus groups, the Lego design model (design thinking precursor), persona development, rapid iteration, and the first “agile” squads at Ally.
Ally Account Rebrand
Ally “Snapshot” would be created and reimagined over the years. However, this first iteration was also part of a larger enterprise initiative called “One Ally,” where all accounts were pulled into view for easier access and management.
My teams were responsible for harmonizing consumer lending accounts into the design in addition the design, development and testing of navigation and service channels. Special focus on information architecture, usability, content design, delivery management, development, and quality assurance.
Ally.com
3 Redesigns
The Ally site is now in its fourth iteration (not shown). However, I am proud to showcase the first, second, and third redesigns.
In the first iteration, we launched Ally.com as a departure from GMAC Bank’s original design. At the time, INGdirect was our only real competitor in the space. No one had heard of direct banking, much less online banking.
The second generation features the shift to the “hand font.” This design was selected to cut through marketing print media with our brand house; however, it proved uniquely challenging for our site design. SEO was impacted as each headline had to be designed as a graphic element. This period of time spun up our need for an internal creative services group, along with an accessibility team, to ensure that all customers could utilize our site with WACAG standards.
In the third design, my product teams led Auto, Dealer, Corporate, and Mortgage, while my channel services teams directed ally.com navigation, learning, self-service, site analytics, research, and insights, as well as marketing creative across the site and third parties.
Ally Auto | Dealer
Many people do not realize that Ally is an Automotive company and a bank. It has a rich 100+ year history with GM that brings the entrepreneurial spirit of the automotive industry to the new digital era of Ally.
It’s a great read if you have the time here.
Not only were there many designs (and redesigns) over the years, but we also had equally as many Auto and Dealer product and service launches. You can cruise through the account features of my Auto product and UX teams designed for payments, onboarding and enrollment, and lease end.
Corporate Redesign
With the second iteration of Ally's design complete, we got back to our roots. The corporate section of our site was emblematic of us putting our customers first. Note the deliberate use of black and white to push corporate to the background while elevating the customer and community.
Brand Marketing
Car-Mart Cares Redesign
Car-Mart Creative Rebrand.
As part one of a multi-series initiative to rebrand creative and storefront, the commercials take a unique and humorous approach of a "Car-Mart Cares” support group.
This engaging format aims to break down psychological and emotional barriers customers often face, making the car buying process feel more relatable, supportive, and less daunting.
30 second General TV spot
Car-Mart Creative
Car-Mart believes in providing its customers with the best quality vehicles at affordable terms. Part of this mission is fulfilled through a commitment to their communities.
In addition to traditional promotions, Car-Mart provides seasonal incentives to help with tax time and the holidays.
The Annual Toy Drive received 30,000 toys last year to donate to 30 Children’s Hospitals across the south and central US.
The Toy Drive has received a Gold Stevie and a Communitas award for two consecutive years for their efforts.
Ally Creative
A look back at Ally creative delivered by myself and my creative services team.
Ally Brand Voice
In 2008, I joined an innovative and dynamic group of leaders at GMAC to “stand up a digital bank.” It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build something that would shape the future of online banking.
The Ally Story shown is the original mission statement to the world about who we are, our desire to “do it right”, as well as how we provide great rates from a company you can trust.
We did not know that “ally” would be our name during the the design of the storefront and account center. My UX teams were creating content only guided by our shared mission. For months, we wrote and designed under the banner of “NewCo,” as shown in the Brand Voice below.
The in-house brand strategy deck includes a fun look back at our competitors at the time. I’m happy to give you a tour of the early years including how we were almost named “Plum”.
Bank of America - LMI
To support Neighborhood Lending for Mortgage at a national level. I was asked to build a team and create a series of Market Sales programs. These initiatives included multi-lingual creative campaigns across a variety of channels.
As the Marketing Sales Leader for Low to Moderate Income my team delivered:
50,000 s.f. Community Home Fair. This mobile interactive home fair provided credit, homebuying, and budgeting to the communities of Dallas, Houston, and Jacksonville. This popular program was then digitized into a convenient Home Fair for banking centers hosted by trained Mortgage Loan Officers.
Multiple Realtor-Builder events were conducted with guest speakers such as Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Henry Cisneros, and Jackie Joyner Kersee.
Nuestro Barrio was an innovative sponsorship of the popular telenovela with syndication in North Carolina. Bank of America was the exclusive financial literacy partner for the series.
