Nylas Branding
Nylas creates APIs that make it easy for software developers to integrate email and calendar functionality into their applications. The company was still in the process of finding their voice as a brand when I joined as the 50th employee. The team conducted market research to find out about Nylas’ target customers and to see how Nylas was being perceived at the time. Using this information, I worked with the VP of Marketing and the Director of Product Marketing to establish the brand guidelines.
Design Traits
Nylas is a premium product, so we wanted to evoke a sense of high-performance, innovation, supreme reliability, and rock solid security. The use of black in the primary palette helps Nylas stand out in a sea of SaaS websites, plus is a nod to the developer’s world of code terminals. In addition, I collaborated with the Developer Advocate to uncover other ways to embed developer dogwhistles into the brand. These primarily show up through the use of typographic characters that have particular meaning in code.
Results & Optimizations
I regularly analyzed the performance of our campaigns and our website using heatmaps and Google Analytics to continuously make improvements. During my tenure at Nylas we saw 10x web traffic, 4x conversion rates, 6x lead volume YoY, and 2x ad click-through rates.
Ongoing Creative Direction
For 2.5 years, I oversaw the creation of every piece of public-facing marketing for Nylas. This included display ads, white papers, videos, infographics, decks, emails, and more. I worked closely with my design team and our stakeholders to discuss project requirements and feedback, and ultimately ensured every deliverable was of the highest quality and delivered on time.
ROI Campaign
Nylas built an ROI calculator to determine the cost and time savings of using Nylas as opposed to DIY integration. In order to promote this calculator, I created a campaign that highlighted how you could better spend your time and money.
Space Cheetahs Campaign
Partnering with an account-based marketing agency, I created a mini game as a hook to get target leads engaged with our brand. The concept was space-themed and used the Nylas mascot (a cheetah) as a guide through the galaxy. The player had to navigate obstacles that were related to integration hurdles: a metaphor for Nylas.
