Big Ideas, Real Impact.

Case studies showcasing creative leadership and design that drive business growth across brands, campaigns, digital experiences, and emerging media.

Kiley Barr Kiley Barr

Cross-Platform Activation (XPA) — Retail Media Creative Leadership

Executive Summary

As Senior Design Director, I helped launch and scale Cross-Platform Activation (XPA), a retail media creative offering supporting Walmart Connect, Kroger Precision Marketing, and Costco. I led creative execution across the initiative while helping establish creative standards, workflows, documentation, and pricing support that enabled the business to scale efficiently across clients, retailers, and campaign types.

From 2024 to 2025, XPA revenue showed 150% YoY growth, with creative becoming a key value-add that supported campaigns for nationally recognized brands across multiple retail ecosystems.

Executive Summary

As Senior Design Director, I helped launch and scale Cross-Platform Activation (XPA), a retail media creative offering supporting Walmart Connect, Kroger Precision Marketing, and Costco. I led creative execution across the initiative while helping establish creative standards, workflows, documentation, and pricing support that enabled the business to scale efficiently across clients, retailers, and campaign types.

From 2024 to 2025, XPA revenue showed 150% YoY growth, with creative becoming a key value-add that supported campaigns for nationally recognized brands across multiple retail ecosystems.


The Challenge

As retail media investment accelerated, brands had plenty of options for buying media, but many lacked creative partners who understood the unique requirements of retailer-specific environments.

The challenge was delivering high-quality creative across multiple retailers, formats, and industries while maintaining consistency, speed, and scalability as the initiative rapidly expanded.


My Role: Senior Design Director

As Senior Design Director, I served as the creative lead for the XPA initiative.

My responsibilities included:

  • Leading creative execution across Walmart Connect, Kroger Precision Marketing, and Costco campaigns

  • Establishing creative standards, workflows, documentation, and production processes that supported scalable delivery

  • Directing creative quality while remaining hands-on in execution

  • Partnering closely with media, account, and production teams

  • Collaborating directly with clients and brand teams throughout campaign development


Creative Execution

I led creative development across a wide range of retail media formats, ensuring campaigns remained visually cohesive while adapting to the technical requirements of each retailer and platform.

Campaign work included:

  • Display banners

  • Interactive banners

  • Rich media

  • Video

Campaigns spanned industries including alcohol, consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, wellness, household products, and pharma. Each execution required adapting creative to different audiences, retailer specifications, and compliance requirements while maintaining a consistent visual standard.

As the initiative expanded, I also helped establish documentation, creative guidelines, and production workflows that improved efficiency and supported long-term scalability.


Results & Impact

Business Impact

  • Helped scale XPA 150% YoY

  • Supported creative across nearly all Walmart Connect and Kroger Precision Marketing revenue generated through the initiative

  • Positioned creative as a core value-add within the retail media offering

Leadership Impact

  • Helped launch and scale a new retail media creative business

  • Established scalable creative standards and production workflows

  • Led the majority of Walmart Connect and Kroger Precision Marketing creative campaigns

  • Balanced creative direction with hands-on execution throughout the initiative's growth

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Kiley Barr Kiley Barr

The Wine Group — Multi-Channel Retail Media Creative Leadership

Executive Summary

As Senior Design Director, I led creative direction and hands-on execution for The Wine Group's retail media business across a broad mix of digital channels and platforms. Working directly with the client and partnering closely with media, account, and production teams, I helped scale creative support across a multi-brand portfolio while maintaining cohesive storytelling across Walmart Connect, Kroger Precision Marketing, CTV, programmatic display, rich media, interactive, and social campaigns.

From 2025 to 2026, the partnership continued to expand. Annual revenue grew 12.5% year over year in 2025, with 2026 pacing to more than double 2025 revenue, supported by always-on creative across an evolving portfolio of brands and retail media programs.

Executive Summary

As Senior Design Director, I led creative direction and hands-on execution for The Wine Group's retail media business across a broad mix of digital channels and platforms. Working directly with the client and partnering closely with media, account, and production teams, I helped scale creative support across a multi-brand portfolio while maintaining cohesive storytelling across Walmart Connect, Kroger Precision Marketing, CTV, programmatic display, rich media, interactive, and social campaigns.

From 2025 to 2026, the partnership continued to expand. Annual revenue grew 12.5% year over year in 2025, with 2026 pacing to more than double 2025 revenue, supported by always-on creative across an evolving portfolio of brands and retail media programs.


The Challenge

The Wine Group required creative support across a rapidly expanding portfolio of brands, retailers, channels, and campaign formats. Each platform introduced different technical requirements, audience behaviors, and creative constraints, while each brand demanded its own distinct visual identity and messaging.

The challenge was delivering high-volume creative at scale while ensuring every execution remained cohesive, polished, and tailored to its platform.


Leadership & Responsibilities

As Senior Design Director, I served as the creative lead across The Wine Group retail media business.

My responsibilities included:

  • Leading creative direction across The Wine Group portfolio

  • Maintaining creative consistency across multiple retail media platforms and digital channels

  • Directing creative quality while remaining hands-on in execution

  • Partnering directly with client stakeholders and brand teams

  • Collaborating closely with media, account, and production teams

  • Mentoring and collaborating with designers Lamar Tittle and Danny Khan

  • Supporting the continued growth of the retail media partnership through scalable creative execution


Creative Execution

I led creative development across a diverse range of retail media channels, ensuring each campaign reflected its brand while adapting to the technical requirements and user behaviors of each platform.

Campaign work included:

  • Programmatic display

  • Walmart Connect

  • Kroger Precision Marketing

  • Connected TV (CTV)

  • Rich media

  • Interactive banners

  • Meta and social campaigns

Supporting multiple brands simultaneously required balancing creative consistency with platform-specific execution, enabling campaigns to remain visually cohesive while optimizing for different formats, placements, and audiences.


Results & Impact

Business Impact

  • Grew partnership revenue from 12.5% YoY

  • Supported an account projected to double revenue in 2026

  • Creative work supported a majority of overall account revenue

Creative Impact

  • Delivered continuous, high-volume creative across always-on retail media programs

  • Supported hundreds of campaign executions spanning multiple brands, retailers, and platforms

  • Maintained creative consistency across a complex multi-brand ecosystem while adapting work for diverse channels and campaign objectives

Leadership Impact

  • Served as a trusted creative partner to both client stakeholders and internal cross-functional teams

  • Balanced creative direction with hands-on execution across simultaneous campaigns and launches

  • Helped strengthen and expand a long-term enterprise client partnership

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Kiley Barr Kiley Barr

National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) — Public Safety Campaigns Across Emerging Media

Executive Summary

Since 2023, I have led creative direction for NHTSA digital awareness campaigns focused on impaired driving, traffic safety, and public education. Working closely with the client and their media agency, I oversaw campaign creative across display, connected TV, dynamic creative optimization (DCO), interactive media, and bilingual executions designed to communicate critical public safety messaging in engaging, accessible ways.

The work required balancing strict government guidelines, accessibility standards, and bilingual requirements with modern digital storytelling, including motion-led creative, gamified experiences, and emerging media such as an augmented reality execution developed for Cadent.

From 2024 to 2025, the account grew 12.8% year over year, with creative supporting a significant portion of annual revenue while contributing to the agency's successful rebid for continued business.

Executive Summary

Since 2023, I have led creative direction for NHTSA digital awareness campaigns focused on impaired driving, traffic safety, and public education. Working closely with the client and their media agency, I oversaw campaign creative across display, connected TV, dynamic creative optimization (DCO), interactive media, and bilingual executions designed to communicate critical public safety messaging in engaging, accessible ways.

The work required balancing strict government guidelines, accessibility standards, and bilingual requirements with modern digital storytelling, including motion-led creative, gamified experiences, and emerging media such as an augmented reality execution developed for Cadent.

From 2024 to 2025, the account grew 12.8% year over year, with creative supporting a significant portion of annual revenue while contributing to the agency's successful rebid for continued business.


The Challenge

Public safety advertising presents a unique creative challenge. Campaigns must capture attention and inspire action while operating within strict government regulations, accessibility requirements, and bilingual standards.

Every execution needed to communicate serious subject matter with clarity and consistency across English and Spanish while avoiding messaging that felt overly clinical or fear-based. The goal was to create work that audiences would notice, understand, and remember across an increasingly crowded digital landscape.


Leadership & Responsibilities

As Senior Design Director, I led creative direction across the account in partnership with the client, their media agency, and internal cross-functional teams.

My responsibilities included:

  • Leading creative across display, DCO, connected TV, and interactive campaigns

  • Developing concepts that balanced audience engagement with government and accessibility requirements

  • Overseeing bilingual creative execution across English and Spanish campaigns

  • Reviewing and refining creative across multiple formats and media placements

  • Collaborating directly with the client's media agency throughout campaign development

  • Participating in production for the 2023 impaired driving campaign shoot

  • Supporting the long-term client relationship that contributed to the agency's successful rebid


Creative Execution

Campaigns were designed to educate audiences on impaired driving and traffic safety while making complex public safety messaging more engaging across digital platforms.

Creative work included:

  • Display advertising

  • Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO)

  • Connected TV (CTV)

  • Interactive media

  • Motion design

  • Gamified experiences

  • Augmented reality executions

  • Bilingual English and Spanish campaigns

Each campaign balanced compliance, accessibility, and technical requirements with thoughtful storytelling that encouraged audience engagement without compromising the seriousness of the message.


Results

Business Impact

  • Contributed to account growth 12.8% YoY

  • Creative work supported approximately 70% of annual revenue

  • Helped strengthen a long-term client partnership that contributed to the agency's successful rebid

Creative Impact

  • Delivered engaging public safety campaigns across highly regulated digital environments

  • Expanded the use of interactive and emerging media, including augmented reality, within government campaigns

  • Maintained creative consistency across bilingual campaigns and diverse digital platforms

Leadership Impact

  • Served as the creative lead across a long-term government account

  • Partnered closely with client stakeholders, media partners, and internal teams from concept through execution

  • Balanced strategic creative direction with hands-on design leadership across multiple campaign initiatives

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