Challenge

CDC’s Cancer Division secured a rare half-page placement in the official NFL Super Bowl Program—requiring a compelling national cancer screening message within one of the most competitive media environments in the world.

The brief emphasized humanity, family, and representation across communities most affected by cancer, with just three weeks to concept, design, clear, and deliver a fully print-ready placement.

The challenge was to turn that high-value media opportunity into a campaign capable of earning attention and creating an emotional connection—without sacrificing scientific credibility, brand integrity, or production quality under an accelerated timeline.

Turning the Brief Into a Creative Strategy

The placement created visibility, but visibility alone wasn't enough. I led the translation of the Cancer Division's communication objectives into a creative strategy centered on humanity, family, and representation—finding an emotional entry point for a scientifically grounded cancer-screening message. I partnered with a senior designer, creating a collaborative review process that balanced rapid concept exploration with thoughtful creative refinement.

With only three weeks from brief to delivery, I introduced AI-assisted concepting using Adobe Firefly and Midjourney to expand the range of ideas we could explore early without compressing the time needed for stakeholder refinement and final production.

From there, every element was refined through detailed compositing and retouching to ensure anatomical accuracy, visual consistency, and print-ready quality.

Throughout the process, I led structured feedback loops with CDC SMEs and stakeholders to align emotional resonance with scientific credibility.

Leading Through Pressure

The project landed just before Thanksgiving with a hard December deadline — effectively compressing a national campaign into a window that included a federal holiday and zero buffer.

Rather than pulling in my most experienced resources and executing top-down, I made a deliberate choice to use the pressure as a development opportunity. I gave a senior designer the creative lead — one of my strongest designers, but someone who hadn't yet operated with real leadership accountability. I asked him specifically to build a review process that brought the broader team in, not just execute in isolation. Watching him step into that role—and grow as a creative leader—was one of the most rewarding parts of the project.

On the clearance side, the stakes were high and the chain was long. The CDC Cancer Division created the brief and required direct alignment first — they were in the weeds with us reconciling every comment. From there, approvals moved through Cancer Division senior leadership and then CDC senior leadership. At each tier the feedback had to be incorporated without losing the emotional clarity of the original concept. I managed that review process in parallel with production, keeping momentum through a holiday week while maintaining scientific accuracy and brand integrity at every stage.

Impact

The campaign turned a single half-page placement into one of CDC's most visible cancer awareness efforts. The final creative appeared in the official NFL Super Bowl Program and was amplified through NFL promotional channels reaching 36M+ followers, with sports and media influencers extending estimated reach by another 18M+ viewers.

Just as importantly, the work demonstrated how a clear communication objective, disciplined creative strategy, stakeholder alignment, and emerging technology could come together quickly enough to capitalize on a high-value cultural moment without compromising scientific credibility.

My Role

As Director, Design & Campaigns, I translated the communication brief into creative strategy, directed concept and execution, developed emerging creative leadership on the team, and guided stakeholder alignment from brief through executive clearance and final production.

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