Tone & brand guidance that keeps a beloved kitchen resource fresh
Every day, millions of home cooks rely on New York Times Cooking. But even beloved institutions must evolve. To ensure Cooking reflected its writers’ and editors’ ambitions, The Times entrusted me with the first major update to the brand’s Style Guide.* Additionally, I defined Cooking’s first persona and crafted marketing materials that meaningfully reflected the Cooking team’s vision.
*Though I cannot share this work here, I'm always eager (and permitted) to discuss it.
Cooking didn’t lack for personality. It did, however, lack a persona. I synthesized brand attributes and POVs from The Times’ Brand Identity team into a persona that wedded Cooking’s instructional value with its power to delight.
Converting cooks
In parallel with the brand and style work, I led writing and content strategy for campaign materials that elevated Cooking’s relationship with Instacart, resulting in the partnership’s highest-ever conversion rates.
Dialing it in
The Times had a robust master-brand toolkit that nevertheless didn’t comprehensively reflect Cooking. Through a series of subtle yet impactful updates, I imbued select toolkit sections with tonal and persona-level thinking that made the guidance ring true.
