In the highly competitive and evolving world of government contracting, companies need to stay ahead of the game and on top of the trends to grow, succeed and achieve mission objectives internally and for customers. The teams leading these efforts set the company’s marketing and communications strategies with industry knowledge, strategic marketing techniques and expertise.
These experts bring the industry experience and understanding needed to lead branding strategies through mergers and acquisitions, run creative and operational support teams, and ultimately, manage the connections and communications needed to drive growth and success.
Eileen Cassidy Rivera, Director, Government Services and Industry Positioning, Cerner Corp.
Eileen Cassidy Rivera joined Cerner as director of industry positioning to build awareness and recognition for Cerner’s work as it modernizes and transforms the electronic health record programs of the departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, and to expand Cerner’s business across the federal health market.
Rivera created a marketing and communications strategy to position Cerner as the premier thought leader in federal health IT, and to champion its ability to bring the right partners and innovation to solve health care challenges.
Rivera leads Cerner’s efforts to address some the nation’s most pressing public health challenges, including suicide. She cultivated relationships with leading organizations including the Life Aid Research Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing suicide among at-risk communities — veterans and first responders.
Under Rivera’s leadership, Cerner made its largest charitable contribution as the founding sponsor of the Life Aid initiative. Her efforts are helping ignite a national conversation about the need to reduce suicide by engaging the public through a campaign focused on reducing the stigma of mental health and brain injuries that often prevent at-risk veterans and first responders from seeking support before they are in crisis. Through her work on suicide prevention, Rivera seeks to build Cerner’s brand and create new relationships with the federal government, private sector and research organizations.
Why Watch
For the remainder of 2020, Rivera will lead innovative MarCom campaigns, including the launch Cerner’s new webinar series, Federal Pulse, an interactive platform that dives into emerging topics, trends and priorities in federal health featuring government, academia, nonprofits and industry leaders to provide clever analysis and new insights.
In addition, Rivera is leading Cerner’s first advertising in the Washington, D.C., Columbus, Ohio, and Pacific Northwest media markets to highlight its work with VA and inform the veteran community about how to benefit from Cerner’s modernization and transformation of the new electronic health record program.
Christine Fuentes, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Amentum
When Christine Fuentes helped Amentum launch as a newly independent company in February, neither she nor anyone else could have imagined how different the world would be in a matter of months.
“We knew we’d strategically introduce the new company within the government market, but we never thought we’d do so against the headwinds of a global pandemic,” she said.
Overnight, commuters no longer were hearing about Amentum on the morning drive. But as her team watched one door close, it recognized another one opening. As people transitioned to remote work, they spent more time in front of their computers and craved good content. The Amentum team embraced digital channels to fill the gap and positioned the company for success as it pivoted to virtual trade shows, webinars and other important opportunities for its people to engage remotely.
“There is a behavioral shift underway, and it may fundamentally change the landscape for marketing and communications forever,” Fuentes said. “Those who adapt quickly always have the advantage. As communications professionals, we play a critical role helping our companies navigate the digital shift that was triggered by COVID-19.”
Why Watch
Moving forward, Fuentes is focused on helping the Amentum brand continue to grow. In the months leading up to the company’s first anniversary, she will continue to look for new ways to familiarize the federal market with the new company 116 years in the making, ultimately forging partnerships that make the nation safer for 2021 and beyond.
Blake Travis, Senior Director, Marketing and Communications, Maximus Federal
Over his 12 years at Maximus, Blake Travis has implemented several strategic B2G marketing and communications initiatives to help drive the company’s strong growth. One of the recent achievements he’s most proud of is the talented team he’s assembled over the past year, who have generated positive momentum in expanding the company’s presence in the market, strengthening its positioning for key opportunities and highlighting one of its unique differentiators and greatest assets: the expertise and experience of its people.
These efforts focused on leveraging multiple marketing tools, like digital advertising, video production, social media, webinars and industry media to highlight thought leadership content that featured Maximus experts sharing their approaches to addressing the challenges that face government.
Travis also helped develop and execute a new branding campaign and public relations strategy that raised the profile of Maximus leaders in the market and lead to appearances on television and radio, interviews with key industry publications, and speaking opportunities at major industry events. As a result, those leaders are being sought after for their insights on major national issues, like the pandemic and social justice, and government initiatives, like IT modernization and citizen service improvements.
Why Watch
As he looks forward, Travis is increasingly excited about the new opportunities to apply digital marketing strategies since the pandemic began. With many traditional marketing channels proving less effective in targeting a government workforce that is now largely remote, the promises of digital marketing are ripe for the picking.
Colleen Campbell, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Alion Science & Technology
Increasing brand recognition and overall reputation in the defense market is Colleen Campbell’s focus every day at Alion. As vice president of marketing and communications, she oversees global marketing and communications strategies that focus on business growth, customer retention, new market development, employee engagement, and Alion remaining an employer of choice for top talent.
Developing a comprehensive communications and marketing strategy for Alion was the goal for Campbell when she joined in August 2019. Alion was almost a year into its acquisition of MacAulay-Brown, Inc., and the need to standardize the Alion brand and increase the frequency and delivery of communications was paramount. Campbell developed a comprehensive integrated strategy that leveraged the existing talents and technologies within Alion, as well as bringing in new agency partners to begin to more accurately change the Alion brand and communications operations to reflect the advanced technology engineering firm it is today.
In 2020, Alion is preparing for a complete relaunch of its brand before the yearend. It will feature Alion’s core capabilities in artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, cyber solutions, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The company will also be launching a strong talent acquisition campaign to showcase the benefits of working for a mid-sized defense company. Finally, Alion plans to highlight many more of its solutions, including its product capabilities, in the coming months.
Why Watch
Campbell is looking to the future of marketing and communications as new tools and methodologies emerge. She is interested in developing and implementing new automation and artificial intelligence tools to further enhance communications and marketing initiatives.
Campbell continues to serve on Alion’s COVID-19 response team and led communications around Alion’s “Return to Work” protocols to allow Alion facilities to safely reopen in early June. She also serves as an advisory member on the measurement committee for the Institute for Public Relations.
Bob Koch, Vice President, Global Enterprise Communications, Raytheon Technologies
Last year, it was vitally important Raytheon continued to deliver for its customers and maintain its competitive strength in the areas of software modernization and big data analytics. The campaigns Bob Koch and his team initiated around how the company is using commercial software practices across its programs, and supporting the business development team on a strategic space pursuit, are examples of how he focused efforts on the “front end” of the business. The success of those initiatives proved the dedication of the Raytheon marketing communications team working closely with the business development and program teams.
Meanwhile, Koch and the team had to prepare for the launch of the new Raytheon Technologies upon the close of the largest merger in the A&D industry this year. How they introduced the new brand and the value of the combined company to internal and external stakeholders was a critical test. You add the pandemic into the mix with the impact on market sectors and the majority of the company’s 195,000 employees working from home, and you see the challenge they faced.
Metrics are everything these days, so Koch and his team enhanced how they monitor, track and report analytics to ensure their tactics are meeting strategic objectives. This data is crucial for refining elements of their campaigns as well as determining where to allocate resources for maximum value.
Why Watch
Koch and the team launched a major campaign to really tell the Raytheon Technologies story that up until recently wasn’t possible in the immediate aftermath of the launch of the company because of the pandemic. A critical phase will be how they expand this campaign both locally and globally to leverage the depth and breadth of the company’s capabilities for customers worldwide.
Kristen Sanchez, Vice President, Corporate Communications, SAP NS2
Kristen Sanchez has more than 20 years of experience building brand, digital and content strategies for top technology organizations. In 2020, she created a virtual speaker series at SAP NS2 to motivate and encourage employees amid the pandemic.
“We wanted to give the team something to look forward to in this stressful time for many,” Sanchez said. “We have hosted virtual fireside chats with speakers like Peloton’s vice president of fitness programming, Robin Arzon and Katie Sowers, offensive assistant coach for the San Francisco 49’ers, on how to stay motivated and engaged in today’s new normal. The feedback has been fantastic from our team.”
Sanchez credits Microsoft Teams and SharePoint as integral tools for effective internal communications since the onset of the pandemic.
“Our organization moved to a virtual workforce overnight back in mid-March,” she said. “Along with creating more avenues for informing and engaging employees like online town hall meetings, these tools have been key for collaboration across our functional areas and organizationwide.”
Why Watch
For the remainder of 2020, Sanchez’s focus is continuing to disseminate the NS2 innovation story to internal and external stakeholders. This includes moving the company’s annual customer event, NS2 Now, from the usual in-person event to a digital format on Oct. 29.
Sanchez launched the event in 2011, which brings together over 800 attendees annually to discuss the intersection of national security and technology. Past keynote speakers include former Presidents G.W. Bush and Bill Clinton as well as Condoleezza Rice.
“At the NS2 Now Digital Summit, attendees will learn how NS2 is enabling the digital transformation of our customers in the areas of innovation, cloud and cybersecurity,” Sanchez said.
Yolanda Murphy, Sector Vice President, Communications, Northrop Grumman Defense Systems
Yolanda Murphy leads the strategic direction and execution of communications initiatives that promote culture, awareness, connection and overall business growth. An award-winning strategic communicator and a trusted adviser to the business, she brings innovative perspectives that shifts the way Northrop Grumman communicates to nearly 90,000 employees.
Her expertise in building bridges between brands and audiences predates the challenges and demands of the current macro environment. She has developed influential global communication campaigns that have led to near-record media interest and engagement, and enhanced customer sentiment and positive perceptions on critical programs.
Murphy continues to lead teams responsible for creating transformative content that transcends traditional communications boundaries and engages through impactful and emotive storytelling. This focus on storytelling served as the foundation for the company’s now award-winning publication, ONE Magazine.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Murphy spearheaded the organization’s thrust into a virtual environment. She supports many efforts to keep the business moving forward as an essential workforce in support of the customer’s varied missions.
Most recently, in an effort to celebrate the accomplishments of more than 200 employees, she led and hosted the sector’s first-ever President’s Leadership Awards Virtual Watch party, modeled after the Oscars. This out-of-the-box concept was introduced by her team, who willingly embraced the challenge to simply “think differently.”
Traditionally, nearly 50 awardees would participate in an in-person dinner, but given the current social distancing mandates and for the safety of employees, this was not possible. Transforming what most would see as a challenge into an opportunity, her team successfully created this first-of-its-kind virtual celebration, providing access to over 1,200 employees who tuned in to witness this celebration, and also made the live event available to more than 10,000 employees across the company.
Murphy is passionate about people. In her commitment to mentoring and as a sponsor for professional development, she is regularly invited to speak to college students, senior-level professionals and business leaders across industries about the art of communications, the importance of public image, and managing your personal brand. She is a fervent advocate for social justice and gender parity, and continues to use her platforms to fight against discrimination, racial inequality and workplace toxicity.
Why Watch
Murphy is a natural-born leader whose guiding principle is to always put people first. She leads an agile team and leans on its key strengths to support her in managing and balancing the strategic and tactical approaches to achieve business objectives.
And she embodies a “growth mindset” — the belief that you are in control of your own development, and can learn and improve through your own actions. Also at the top of her agenda is reinforcing the communications function as a vital asset to the business, and as such disrupted the organizational structure by implementing measurable key performance indicators that demonstrated the direct alignment of communications engagements against key priorities, which led to quantifiable business growth.
Murphy is tackling the toughest communication problems to meet the ever-evolving needs of Northrop Grumman employees and customers worldwide. She is a leader who continues to define possible each and every day.
Holly Bone, Senior Director, Marketing, Novetta
In her role as senior director of marketing, Holly Bone is proud of the work her team did in the month preceding and during Novetta’s June acquisition of WaveStrike, a 100+ analytics company in Columbia, Maryland.
In addition to the usual PR and onboard messaging responsibilities, marketing used this opportunity to give the company’s website a fresh, sleeker and modern look, and created a bespoke portal on its intranet to welcome the new staff.
And 2020 brought its own challenges. With the shift to virtual events, Bone and her team had to get more creative with the dissemination of digital collateral.
“Where we’d normally build a physical booth at the event, instead we built bespoke webpages for each virtual event which only feature products and solutions appropriate for that event’s audience,” she said. This also provided a single link which the sales team and executives could share on social or in emails to potential customers.
Why Watch
Novetta is winning new business and growing, Bone said. The rest of 2020 will see marketing partnering with recruiting to develop new hiring campaigns and incentives to encourage employee referrals.
“We’ll also work with Ops and Employee Care to dream up innovative ways to keep Novettans engaged as a majority of our staff continue to work from home and we’ll complete production of our 2021 Novetta Tech Book,” she added.
Matt McQueen, Chief Communications Officer, Peraton
When Matt McQueen joined Peraton, the company had a 125-year legacy, but no cohesive identity. Over the last three years, McQueen has built a team, strategy, and brand that are force multipliers for the company.
McQueen designed his team — including strategic communications, marketing communications and stakeholder engagement — to be critical enablers of the company’s growth engine and aligned resources to directly support the company’s business, talent acquisition, and cultural objectives. By using integrated communications and marketing efforts, his team has connected more effectively with external stakeholders, including increasing media coverage by 53%.
Like many companies, Peraton aggressively competes for talent. To address its unique needs, McQueen and his team developed the first employee value proposition — “Do The Can’t Be Done.” Since the launch of the EVP, the company has not only materially increased its targeted applicant pool, but the EVP has become a battle cry for the company.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, McQueen committed to ensuring Peraton’s employees remained informed and engaged. Through the execution of a deliberate, coordinated and real-time communications approach across multiple mediums, Peraton’s employees never felt disconnected from the company, no matter where they were working. An expert in business, advocacy and crisis communications, McQueen is a trusted adviser across the C-suite.
Why Watch
McQueen’s future focus is on developing and executing outcome-driven integrated communications plans in support of each of Peraton’s six strategic growth campaigns. The campaigns, which address new and expansion market growth for Peraton, are core to the company’s future growth.
Marta Czarnecki, Public Sector Strategic Marketing and Communications, NTT DATA Services
NTT DATA’s Public Sector is experiencing astronomical growth, according to Marta Czarnecki. Last April, the company acquired Cognosante’s state health consulting practice, which substantially increased its footprint in the state Medicaid and health markets. In December, it acquired NETE and grew its work in the federal public health space.
“Both acquisitions brought to the team some phenomenal, talented individuals and expanded our capabilities,” Czarnecki said. “For marketing, growth translates to a lot of hustle.”
In addition to the acquisitions, across NTT DATA’s Public Sector enterprise, marketing played a role in adding several new logo clients, expanding support to sellers and launched several new markets and capabilities.
“I am really proud of the work I’ve done with our Accelerating Smart solution, it is really taking off in the market and a great example of NTT DATA’s foresight, innovation and investment in R&D,” Czarnecki said.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, any strategies, plans, techniques and innovations Czarnecki thought she would be focusing on in 2020 have been thrown out the window. All the planning and campaigns have to be re-imagined to meet NTT DATA’s audience where they are now — online.
“Of course, everyone is vying for the same mindshare, so the challenge is going to be to cut through the clutter,” Czarnecki said. “Certainly, all our inboxes are flooded with invitations to webinars and virtual events, but there are only so many hours in a day and most folks don’t have extra time… which is why marketers need to get creative and think beyond traditional channels.”
Czarnecki has a strong video background as well. One positive aspect of the current telework environment is that NTT DATA has come to accept video as a very effective communications tool.
“We now accept video that is less than perfect, without flashy edits or high-production value,” she said. “I love that video provides a more personal means for engagement. Almost everyone has a cellphone, a camera on their laptop or ability to record a Zoom call — it becomes a means for conversations and personal engagement right at our fingertips.”
Why Watch
Czarnecki said she’s fortunate to have a large marketing organization to rely on for assistance. NTT has some fantastic sports sponsorships with INDY and MLB, where the company recently introduced several very cool innovations that improve the fan experience. These help to build its brand, yet the company still has some work to do in building its brand in the public sector.
“We will definitely be focusing on our digital presence, social media outreach and getting creative to engage our clients,” Czarnecki said.
Jacqueline Lampert, Manager, Marketing and Communications, E3/Sentinel
Jacqueline Lampert has elevated E3/Sentinel through innovative and relevant MarCom strategies, and has demonstrated the leadership and creativity necessary to continue to build the company’s internal and external eminence. All the while, she has excelled as a leader and as the champion for the company in these unpredictable and uncertain times.
E3/Sentinel has grown more than 50% over the last 18 months. This is a byproduct of both its internal and external growth. The stability Lampert and her innovation brings and the holistic approach to myriad of MarCom activities the organization has taken on since her arrival in July 2018 has been unparalleled in the market — her accomplishments would be normal for 5 years, yet she has done it in a year.
Lampert’s achievements and appreciation of these activities, along with her main focus areas, are:
- Successfully leading E3/Sentinel through the introduction of three new companies into its platform through acquisitions since August 2019
- Leading an overall rebranding campaign for the entire organization, culminating with the release of new brand in the fall of 2020
- Elevating E3/Sentinel’s social presence, blog/video presence, spotlights on employees and career opportunity
- Leading the refresh and brand consistency in corporate marketing materials.
- Leading the retooling of company communications using avenues to bring content quickly and efficiently to a geographically dispersed employee population during these uncertain times
- Introduction of health and wellness and many new remote learning and professional development with new branded programs backing E3/Sentinel’s integrated talent management efforts during COVID and this environment of virtual employment
- Development and launch of key campaigns within E3/Sentinel’s platform focused on leading-edge technologies and relevant capabilities including space, countering of weapons of mass destruction, and digital transformation.
- Co-collaboration on the implementation and introduction of a massive training platform in January 2020. Then, quickly adapting to the nontraditional working environments COVID presented and using this training platform as a key medium for how the company communicates with its nearly 1,000 people spread throughout the globe
Why Watch
Lampert isn’t just changing the company; she’s using all these concepts to move the marketing community in a swift direction of adaptability and a willingness to quickly adjust during times of crisis. She is setting a new standard for MarCom in this environment. Colleagues and customers are demanding this approach with a renewed focus on outcomes and demonstrated successes. Lampert is the right leader for the team as it continues to elevate its game as an enterprise platform ready to dominate the market.
Milo Speranzo, Director, North America Public Sector Marketing, Dell Technologies
Recognizing the need to take new approaches to stay in front of federal decision-makers, Milo Speranzo spearheaded a multipronged yearlong integrated content, advertising and CIO engagement campaign. The digital strategy focused on leveraging a new platform — the interactive FITARA Dashboard.
Speranzo and his team reached a targeted audience focused on federal IT modernization, sharing content and resources. They exceeded planned content visits, impressions and leads generated by more than 300%. He built on these efforts launching new research on FITARA’s metrics and effectiveness, grabbing additional mindshare and a continued platform to share IT modernization best practices.
As the pandemic set in, Speranzo also recognized a sea change within the decision-makers approving stimulus funding. As the country was recovering and the billions of dollars of stimulus and recovery funding began to flow, he noticed a significant trend of business decision-makers, not the traditional IT decision-makers, making more and more procurement decisions in a bubble.
Speranzo immediately refocused his staff to target this audience and completely change the in-market messaging to the IT decision-makers to focus on engaging them with members of their own organizations receiving stimulus dollars.
Why Watch
This fast pivot resulted in record pipeline creation in a time of uncertainty. As he continues through 2020, Speranzo and his team will continue to focus on reaching the lesser-engaged audience and double down on the enablement message to the IT decision-makers.
Alan Hill, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Government Relations, Serco
A defining challenge for Serco in 2019 was the acquisition of the Naval Systems Business Unit from Alion, which closed in August 2019. This was a very sizable deal that dramatically expanded the scope of solutions Serco could provide to the Navy and other customers. Serco’s stated goal was to retain all 1,000 of the acquisition employees, as their exceptional expertise and customer relationships were at the core of value being acquired.
Alan Hill worked with Serco’s CEO and senior leadership to develop a comprehensive communications plan that included:
- Carefully sequenced employee communications that educated existing and newly joining Serco colleagues about the strategy behind the deal, provided a smooth integration path for acquisition employees and created marketing materials to educate all employees on the new services and capabilities
- Revised all outward-facing communications and marketing materials so that from day one executives had the tools to communicate the full value proposition Serco was able to now deliver to customers
- Executed a comprehensive education program to foster collaboration across business units and geographic regions so all customer-facing Serco team members were knowledgeable and could identify new opportunities
In executing this strategy, Hill and his MarCom team used an integrated approach that combined email communications, newsletters, presentations, videos, collateral materials, social media, live video collaboration platform and the website.
The success of this approach was measured by successfully completing the integration of the Alion business, a significant number of new joint bids submitted that leveraged new and legacy capabilities, and an increase in employee engagement scores that ranked Serco as a highly engaged company when compared to industry peers.
Why Watch
For the next 12 months, Hill and his team’s focus will be on continuing to build a position of thought leadership for Serco in its focus market sectors and sustain high levels of employee engagement and service excellence during the current pandemic.
Josie Smoot, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Iron Bow Technologies
In 2019, Iron Bow launched IronTarget, a multicloud solution, to the federal marketplace. The solution offers agencies a quick, secure route to cloud. This effort involved partnering across the organization with Iron Bow’s cloud architects. Through the collaboration, the team built an integrated campaign, which launched at the beginning of 2020 bringing the solution to market. Currently, IronTarget is piloted at with various customers, with interest across multiple verticals.
Also, earlier this year, as part of continuing maturation and transformation of the Iron Bow Healthcare Business Unit, Iron Bow relaunched Ironbowhealthcare.com. The new site combines Iron Bow’s long-standing experience in developing and implementing telehealth solutions and programs, its manufacturing capabilities, managed service offerings as well its IT solution expertise.
With the new site and digital strategies now in place to drive awareness of Iron Bow Healthcare’s expertise, the site has already expanded the market presence of the brand nationally to commercial and federal health care providers.
And first and foremost, MarCom strategies and initiatives align directly with sales and their goals.
“Our greatest success comes from our partnership and collaboration together,” Josie Smoot said. “Now more than ever, as in person touchpoints are at a minimum, we have to ensure we align with consistent messaging, a strong plan and digital strategy to support that plan. Our customers are going digital more than ever before, we need to continue to reinvent and invest in digital strategies, tools and resource to aid in getting our message and our expertise to our customers where and when they need and want it.”
On the internal front, Smoot said Iron Bow is fortunate to have invested in Cisco’s full suite of collaboration technologies. This allowed her team to have a seamless transition to a fully remote workforce and keep up on its internal communications.
“We’ve also developed internal campaigns to spur the creativity and keep the connectedness across the company through the last few months with activities like our ‘Funday’ Friday themes, which have really bolstered our employee engagement on our social media channels,” Smoot added.
Why Watch
“Our focus will continue to invest in digital transformation tools and tactics to help our clients get the information they need when and where they want,” Smoot said.
Her team will continue to invest in building dynamic content, thought leadership and messaging to help customers make more informed decisions as well as automation technologies to better scale and provide ROI on its marketing activities.
Melissa Lee Dueñas, Senior Vice President, Director, Communications and Marketing, Leidos
According to Melissa Lee Dueñas, this year has been unbelievably productive thus far. In addition to navigating communications around two meaningful acquisitions for the company, Dueñas and her team also launched a mental health campaign that creates profound value for use.
“I am proud to say we envisioned this prior to the pandemic, but COVID-19 has only amplified the need for action,” she said. “We are beginning our efforts to advance mental health solutions — starting of course with a focus on issues that are authentic to the Leidos mission, vision and business strategy.”
These include a focus on frontline health care worker post-traumatic stress during the time of COVID-19, continuing efforts related to opioids and substance abuse and building initiatives targeting anxiety and depression.
“Our ability to tackle problems as a company depends on our strong mental health,” Dueñas said. Especially considering untreated mental disorders now account for more than 10% of the total global burden of all disease and, that by 2030, depression alone will be the leading cause of disability around the world.
“This campaign is part of our effort to ensure that our employees can operate at their highest potential — by promoting lifestyles that foster mental well-being and modeling our efforts to our customers and partners,” she added.
Her team will tackle these areas by first communicating the challenge to Leidos’ stakeholders, collaborating with relevant partner organizations to deliver messaging.
“Placing this kind of value and focus on the people around you and their wellbeing — be they your colleagues, customers or neighbors — is a powerful thing,” Dueñas said. “These initiatives bring us the most valuable types of returns — loyalty, brand equity, customer affinity and a focus on inclusion that spurs innovation.”
Additionally, Dueñas said the events of 2020 require everyone to be better, stronger and faster at their craft; demanding the agility to let go of the world we used to live in, and making home in this new strange place we all find ourselves.
At the same, it’s critical to enhance the ability to track effectiveness by maturing metrics and related back-end marketing automation systems, while at the same time pivoting away from traditional tactics like in-person events and trade shows, she said.
“We must also bring those around us on this journey with us to ensure success,” Dueñas said. “We must all adopt an entirely fresh perspective about how we can interact with customers, and how we can best drive value for the business, while at the same time contributing to the well-being of the world around us.”
Why Watch
In 2020 so far, Dueñas and her team have communicated more than all of last year and are well on their way to doubling its throughput year-over-year. Continuing that pace, while steadying the ship for employees, and communicating aggressively to inform and inspire is the challenge.
Also in the next year, most companies will increase their efforts related to diversity and inclusion. Leidos added inclusion as a value in January, but its work has only just begun.
“The pain over the unconscionable and continued injustice and violence suffered by the African-American community is undeniable,” Dueñas said. “Each of us must do our part to effect change. Communications is a powerful change agent in times of uncertainty and transformation.”
As practitioners of this craft, Dueñas and her team will harness its creative energy to help the Leidos team find new ways to engage on these critical topics, enabling the company to move forward together in unity and compassion.
“This is the year to take action,” she said.
Mike Teegardin, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, ASRC Federal
“No plan survives its first contact with the enemy” — a military quote U.S. Army veteran and ASRC Federal Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs Mike Teegardin, takes to heart.
“I think about it in this way: While your objective remains the same, your tactics have to adapt to the situation,” he said.
Since joining ASRC Federal in late 2017, Teegardin has built a dynamic communications, marketing and public affairs team that excels at strategic planning while being agile and responsive to the operating environment. Employee engagement, external communications and community relations are the pillars Teegardin has structured his team around to serve the ASRC Federal business.
“I am proud of how our team has worked diligently and creatively to leverage the foundation built over the last few years and use it as a springboard to launch new, innovative methods to achieve our goals during the pandemic,” he said. “We’ve been inventing and reimagining our work and many of the tactics we implemented will remain part of our ongoing practices long after this crisis.”
Teegardin points to ASRC Federal’s culture — rooted in values embracing community, teamwork and stewardship — as what sets the company apart. ASRC Federal employees and Teegardin’s team rallied to support front-line workers and first responders across the country in a variety of ways including 3-D printing face shields and donating personal protective equipment.
Why Watch
Optimism, authenticity and adaptability are at the core of Teegardin’s energy and passion for the business and his position.
“Our employees continue to serve their communities and the missions of their customers in the face of a pandemic,” he noted. “It’s inspiring to be part of that.”
Teegardin and his team are a trusted source of information for employees and he plans to maintain the positive momentum into 2021 to achieve business growth targets and positively impact local communities.
Roela Santos, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, Science Applications International Corp.
Roela Santos has been a transformative leader for the Corporate Marketing and Communications function at Science Applications International Corp. In her role as a leader, Santos has increased the strategic alignment, built the thought leadership platforms, improved stakeholder engagement across the company’s channels, and enhanced SAIC’s reputation.
When Santos joined SAIC, she focused on ensuring the CMC team enables the success of the company. As part of the up-leveling of the function, new teams were developed, including a Digital Communications group and Customer Group Marketing teams, key roles in aligning campaigns with growth efforts.
Santos also led the brand transition and communications around the acquisitions of Engility and Unisys Federal. Her team ensured it leveraged these industry game-changing acquisitions in the company’s thought leadership efforts and go-to-market strategies, while leveraging the company brand.
And with the company competing for high-demand tech talent, Santos has ensured SAIC’s messaging reflects an employee-first priority.
It was also critical for her the CMC organization directly impact business results. With stronger partnerships with business development and the business units and alignment to the corporate strategy, the CMC team has developed integrated campaigns that shape and influence opportunities and positioned SAIC to win.
In the COVID environment, the team responded with agility to successfully transition events to a virtual environment without losing a beat.
Santos’ team has also enhanced the experience for all stakeholders.
SAIC’s intranet has seen more than 8 million page views and 95% employee engagement. Since March, balancing compassionate messages and practical information, the team provided online COVID-19 resources to employees and hosted managers calls. Santos has helped drive continuous engagement with its employees and other stakeholders as the company navigates this challenging environment.
The CMC’s focus on more compelling, original content has resulted in a year-over-year increase of 71% in media stories covering SAIC, as well as improved traffic on its website.
Why Watch
Santos takes pride in her team’s ability to tell a strong SAIC story that’s compelling to its customers, investors and employees. She is constantly driving the CMC team to push boundaries and limits to inject innovative approaches, deliver a digital experience, and advance the interests and reputation of SAIC.
Matt Hickey, Vice President, Public Sector and FirstNet Marketing, AT&T
According to Matt Hickey, his team’s greatest accomplishment in 2020 is its response to COVID-19.
“Our public sector customers are on the frontlines of the pandemic, and our commitment to support those that serve has been our No. 1 priority,” Hickey said.
In early March, the organization built and launched a Public Sector COVID-19 Program Management Office to meet the emergent needs of its market. It established weekly open mic calls to field immediate requests and respond in near-real time.
When the CARES Act was signed March 27, Hickey and his team analyzed the 800+ page law and followed all of the funding to support the technology needs of government agencies and education.
“Our primary campaign was to help educate our customers — from schools to elected officials — on the funding, resources, documentation, certifications, timelines and more,” Hickey said.
And as funding moved from law to appropriations, they provided daily and weekly updates for the organization’s public sector professionals and external affairs partners to ensure customers and elected officials had all pertinent information.
“Our entire marketing efforts have been focused on resources to assist our customers in their greatest time of need,” Hickey added.
The pandemic has also made the relationships Hickey’s team has made with industry publications across the public sector even more paramount.
“You also need to pivot from traditional advertising methods and focus solely on what your customer needs in 30, 60, 90 days, especially when you are marketing to the public sector,” he said. “Tone, voice and message are essential.”
This includes understanding the necessary ecosystem to stand up dual classrooms — home and school — and how to deliver vital citizen services for government agencies. Delivering solutions to students in their homes was something that had not been done by schools previously, so it was all new territory.
Since March, Hickey’s team has launched several unlimited wireless data offers for all public and private K-12 schools, colleges and universities to ensure students can continue to learn and thrive.
“We’ve included content-filtering solutions in our education offers to help schools protect the children in their care,” he said. “This service allows school administrators to manage the internet sites their students can access to help protect them from unsafe content and to block malicious sites, malware and hacking attempts.”
Plus, they have accelerated provisioning from months to days/weeks for defense and federal agencies to support remote work and increased network capacity to meet citizen demand. They have also launched a video intelligence solution that includes near real-time reporting and actionable alerts, including thermal analytics to detect elevated temperatures and continuity of operations analytics for people counting and occupancy, social distance monitoring and more.
Why Watch
To be successful will require the move from stimulus to sustainability, Hickey said. There are incredible lessons learned that need to become best practices in the years ahead.
“This is our new reality,” he added.
The wide disbursement of the federal workforce will drive the continued need for highly secure seamless solutions. The increase in endpoints and massive datasets will demand bandwidth and analytics closer to the edge. Modernization is no longer a luxury; it has become the new necessity.
“While the digital divide is not new, the opportunity to close the gap is,” Hickey said. “We are committed to leading the future for students, for educators and in technology. “From crisis comes innovation, and we intend to be on the forefront — supporting the public sector — every step of the way.”
Jennifer Goodman Horowitz, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, U.S. Federal Market, CGI
Jennifer Goodman Horowitz began her career in the public relations and marketing agency world, primarily advising technology and professional services companies selling to the federal government. She was accustomed to clients insisting their government customers would always be reluctant to be party to any marketing initiatives.
Then in 2005, Goodman Horowitz was tapped to lead change management communications campaigns on behalf of federal agencies implementing new technology programs that laid the groundwork for early stages of IT modernization.
“Here were government agencies paying to raise the profile of their success stories internally and externally,” Goodman Horowitz said. “This was my ‘aha!’ moment. Government cannot overtly market a contractor, but they can promote a shared success story. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
In 2016, she joined CGI Federal to lead the marketing and communications department, and (true to her theory), federal clients have largely embraced the notion of taking a shared victory lap. In that time, her team facilitated the internal and external communications of two mergers, helped CGI Federal take a fresh look at the way the company describes its offerings, and raised its profile in the federal market through a mix of traditional and online marketing, including the launch of its blog and other digital channels.
In the last year, alone, her team doubled the year-over-year web traffic to the CGI Federal section of cgi.com and saw a 600% increase in web traffic to the microsite for CGI Momentum, CGI Federal’s flagship enterprise solution.
The announcement of CGI Federal’s recent merger with TeraThink happened at the outset of the pandemic, requiring everyone to take a new approach to almost every facet of the merger, especially the internal communications.
“We usually have a very high-touch approach, with multiple internal events to celebrate the merger as well as provide new employees ample face time with CGI executives,” Goodman Horowitz said. “There was no playbook for doing this during a pandemic, but I’m proud of the way the team worked creatively to establish as many online touchpoint channels as possible, including online virtual office hours for TeraThink employees to ‘meet’ CGI leaders on their own terms.”
Why Watch
Goodman Horowitz embraces a balanced paid, earned, shared and owned media approach to an integrated campaign. However, owing to her PR background, she admits a bias toward earned, shared and owned media over paid advertising and large corporate sponsorship of conferences and tradeshows, making the pandemic-era shift away from events toward more digital interaction a relatively natural transition.
In fact, even pre-pandemic, Goodman Horowitz knew one of her top priorities for the next year would be a rollout of a social media ambassador program across CGI Federal’s 7,000 employees.
“If we were able to double our web presence last year, let’s shoot for multiplying that engagement by 7,000 next year,” she quipped.
Robert Pearson, Chief Marketing Officer, Steampunk
Steampunk, Inc. was born a little over a year ago, launching an organization in the government IT services space with the brand promise to place people at the very core of everything they do while maintaining a sharp focus on client mission advancement. As the chief marketing officer (and spiritual leader) of Steampunk, Robbe Pearson challenged the status quo of government contracting by establishing a brand that is bold, edgy, fun and disruptive.
Pearson credits steadfast engagement with both its employees and clients at all touchpoints to drive growth and evolve its progressive culture. In just a little over a year into its existence, Steampunk has doubled in size while helping to solve its clients’ biggest challenges.
A fundamental, yet differentiated aspect to Steampunk’s early brand success has come directly from its focus on building the right culture. Pearson attributes Steampunk’s strong corporate values with providing a constant “check-down” to effectively and continually guide the organization along its growth path.
“When you essentially double in size in the first full year, you need to ensure that the culture is able to scale with you,” he said. “Steampunk’s four values of People @ the Core, Thrive Being Uncomfortable, Set the Pace, and Empower Your Community really resonate with our employees and present themselves in a way that they can personalize them. This produces a ‘stickiness’ to Steampunk’s culture that is very unique in today’s landscape.”
Why Watch
As a design-led organization, Steampunk is a well-respected, industry veteran team doing things in a new and inspired way. The company brings humans (true end-users), creative exploration techniques and an innovative, energetic studio environment together to leverage its Design Intelligence methodology with its federal clients.
Pearson has been instrumental in helping stand up and launch Steampunk’s first Design Intelligence Studio, which will be co-located with the company headquarters in McLean, Virginia. The new studio, set to open in late September, will pay homage to Steampunk, the genre, in subtle ways through its industrial-modern décor and vibe.
Pearson’s knack for creating a strong brand ecosystem for Steampunk through its name and integration story, coupled with an exciting culture and an innovative, collaborative environment, is certainly something to watch as the team continues to grow.
Michael Dolton, Director, Corporate Communications, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
Michael Dolton joined AMERICAN SYSTEMS in 2006 to oversee internal and external communications for the privately held, employee-owned company. The company, founded in 1975, had just completed a rebranding initiative, and Dolton was charged with developing a comprehensive communications plan to build awareness of the new brand within the company and with external customers.
“I knew right away that I had all the ingredients to be successful here,” he said. “We had a strong leadership team, a great reputation and a unique culture of employee ownership that made our messaging convincing and compelling.”
Leveraging the power of employee-ownership in their internal and external messaging has paid off, from successful ad campaigns featuring photos of employees responding to customer challenges with the statement, “I can do that. I own the company,” to current campaigns centered around the company’s tagline, “We know what’s at stake.”
The belief that internal and external communications are inextricably intertwined has always been a cornerstone of Dolton’s marketing philosophy.
“I am fortunate to be in a position where I can influence both sides of the equation,” he noted. “It’s difficult to be seen as a contractor of choice by our customers or an employer of choice by potential employees if you don’t have that same level of buy-in internally.”
According to Dolton, the pride of employee ownership pervades all aspects of the company’s culture and leads to an engaged and empowered workforce eager to step up and take joint accountability for the company’s success. That translates into honest, effective messaging.
“Our employee-owners are our best brand ambassadors, and not only are they viewed as credible and relatable in our external marketing communications, the campaigns resonate with their fellow employee-owners, keeping everyone’s level of engagement high,” Dolton explained. “Again, our internal and external messaging reinforce one another and strengthen the overall brand.
Why Watch
AMERICAN SYSTEMS has enjoyed four straight years of solid company growth and record share value in their Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The trajectory shows no signs of slowing down, even in the face of a pandemic.
“COVID-19 has altered the traditional marketing landscape, with fewer opportunities to reach customers and candidates through in-person networking events and industry conferences,” Dolton said. “But we’re going to keep the pedal to the metal with well-honed online messaging, including leveraging our growing social media presence.”
Oliver Nutt, Vice President, Marketing and External Communications, General Dynamics Information Technology
Oliver Nutt was promoted to vice president of marketing and external communications for General Dynamics Information Technology shortly after General Dynamics acquired CSRA Inc. for $9.7 billion, the largest acquisition in the company’s history.
In 2019, he oversaw GDIT’s award-winning rebrand strategy, which repositioned the “new” GDIT following the merger and several divestures. The rebrand was an important moment in the company’s transformation and was recognized with the Distinction Award in the 2020 REBRAND 100 global awards.
Following the rebrand, Nutt and his new team partnered closely with the lines of business on deal-based marketing and the introduction of commercial sector best practices. The team also implemented a new digital strategy this year, launching a digital thought leadership program, podcast series, webinar program and virtual trade show experience.
For Nutt, it’s all about having the right team and culture.
“It’s an exciting time to be at GDIT,” he said. “I am surrounded by very talented, energetic people, and we’re constantly learning from each other. This dynamic has enabled us to respond quickly to the changing needs of the business and to new challenges like COVID-19.”
Why Watch
Since the pandemic, the way people engage with companies, brands and consume content has changed, and as a result, the business requires different types of marketing services. Nutt and his team is heavily focused on accelerating GDIT’s digital marketing initiatives and telling a stronger narrative around the culture at GDIT and the innovations the company is delivering.
Lorraine Corcoran, Vice President, Corporate and Marketing Communications, Perspecta
“I would never have guessed this on Jan. 1, but I have to say that the most significant achievement for my marketing and communications team in 2020 was navigating through the pandemic,” Lorraine Corcoran reflected.
“I think it is a close second to launching the Perspecta company and brand two years ago,” she added.
COVID-19 created a new paradigm for everyone. Business as usual didn’t exist, and life came to a halt for several months. There were many unknowns.
“We were determining how to handle evolving circumstances, developing guidance and providing updates to the workforce in real time,” Corcoran said. “There was news to share every day —sometimes multiple times a day — all while continuing to serve our customers in new and creative ways.”
It was also an extremely emotional and sensitive environment, because the health and wellbeing of everyone, including peers, colleagues, families and friends — was a factor.
“Everything we communicated to our employees and stakeholders had to be cognizant of that fact,” Corcoran said.
Keeping customers and shareholders apprised of Perspecta activities and making sure they knew the company was still operating cohesively was critical. All of the company’s digital channels — intranet, website and social channels — became the backbone for Perspecta’s communications activities and pushed the team to higher levels of quantity and quality than ever before.
“I could not be prouder of my team of writers, designers and communicators who worked overtime — and continue to do so — to make sure our everyone had the information they needed to get through this unprecedented time,” Corcoran said.
Traditional government contractors have relied heavily on face-to-face interactions for decades as the major focus of their marketing efforts. And while the industry is experts collectively at maximizing in-person interactions at conferences, trade shows and meetings, it lags behind the commercial trend to leverage virtual customer engagements as a primary way to make connections.
This year, the COVID-19 pandemic changed all of that. The business case to justify the cost of implementing digital tools and platforms to reach out to customers and employees was suddenly validated overnight.
“Fortunately, at Perspecta, we spent 2019 implementing a robust, cloud-based intranet solution to connect all 14,000 employees,” Corcoran said. ‘That tool was in place, fully functional and invaluable to us for communicating during the quarantine.”
In early 2020, Corcoran and her team also began laying out plans for dynamic, secure ways to interact with partners and customers. The onset of the pandemic has fast-tracked their plan to implement those tools.
Why Watch
Perspecta’s strategic plans for the year were accelerated in many ways by the pandemic, not only because it was deemed an essential business, but because of the mission critical role the company plays with its customers. When state and local shelter-in-place orders began to take place, Perspecta was still required to provide onsite support to its customers whenever and wherever it was required.
In other instances, the company worked with its customers to reinvent the ways they could virtually deliver citizen services. As a result, Perspecta’s marketing efforts have only increased because of new case studies and success stories to promote.
“For the balance of 2020, we will continue to chronicle our ability to offer digital transformation, cloud and cyber solutions that propel our customers into a secure and efficient future,” Corcoran said. “We are also developing best practices for our virtual interactions and looking forward to building on the success of those engagements with some robust new digital tools.”
On the internal side, Corcoran said her team will build on the momentum it created with its workforce during this atypical year through the robust intranet channel, frequent engagement with the leadership team and ongoing two-way dialog.
“We really created a sense of community and family over the last six months, and I only see that growing as we move forward,” Corcoran said.
Shelly Scarpelli, Director, Federal Marketing, Fortinet
In Fortinet Federal’s push to amplify its government-focused offerings, Shelly Scarpelli has helped drive the company’s reach through impactful, accessible understanding of its comprehensive security solutions.
An organizational focus around four central pillars — security-driven networking, dynamic cloud security, artificial intelligence-driven operations and zero-trust networks — meant the marketing and strategic communications needed to mirror those priorities.
For a company best known for its firewalls, that meant ensuring current and potential clients understand these pillars’ relevance and Fortinet’s complete solution, even as that firewall capability remains a flagship offering.
In November 2019, Scarpelli helped spearhead the company’s inaugural federal Security Transformation Summit — an opportunity to showcase for the government audience Fortinet’s exclusive capabilities, thought leadership, federal collaboration and partner ecosystem. The summit drew more than 500 attendees and delivered a 30x ROI for Fortinet’s pipeline. The event will return (remotely) in November, and Scarpelli and her team are confident they will continue the momentum.
Meanwhile, the company’s quick pivot to virtual marketing strategies is driving attention to its advanced technologies and expertise through robust, multipronged efforts: more virtual event participation, increased media coverage, elevated content, promotion of Fortinet’s free cyber skills training and veterans assistance programs, and a doubling-down on key partnerships and social media. Fortinet’s also moving ahead with military cyber schoolhouse collaboration and targeted agency initiatives.
Why Watch
With limited face-to-face opportunities, Scarpelli is pushing forward how she knows best: with integrated plans for building awareness and demand, leveraging meaningful content and partnering strategically to get it done.
Pamela Merritt, Managing Director, Marketing and Communications Lead, Accenture Federal Services
Growing up in a military family, Pamela Merritt gained an early appreciation for public service, which has endured throughout her career.
“It’s gratifying to bring to life the work that Accenture does to help our clients make a difference in people’s lives,” she said.
As federal agencies increasingly embrace new approaches to take on challenges and stay ahead of change, Accenture is helping clients reimagine how to deliver their mission in fundamentally different ways and bring together the latest commercial innovation and technologies to get the job done faster.
Merritt and her team have been integrally involved in promoting Accenture’s role in helping federal agencies transform and modernize for more impact.
“We have an incredible team that’s all-in and fully aligned across marketing, media and communications with an emphasis on digital and great storytelling,” Merritt said. “We challenge ourselves to innovate in our own space, make meaningful connections with people and create compelling content that ranges from future-forward perspectives on what’s next for government to innovative economic models to frame the workforce productivity impact of artificial intelligence.”
Combined, these efforts have made a big impact on the Accenture brand — a recent brand study found Accenture’s favorability among government employees increased 25% between 2017 and 2020. This was achieved through continuous engagement with the market as well as major moments like this summer’s announcement that AFS chose St. Louis as the home of its newest Advanced Technology Center, which generated millions of impressions and earned coverage in every leading publication and broadcast outlet in the region.
Why Watch
“The lessons of the pandemic compelled everyone to pivot fast and focus on what is truly important,” Merritt said. “For our team, we concentrate our efforts around innovating quickly in how we connect with people and curating the experiences we create.”
Looking ahead, Merritt said she is excited about extending these efforts into new collaborations with a diverse group of partners.
“The best of part of what we do is sharing the stories behind the people who are doing amazing things for the country and in the community,” she added. “With so much change in the world, we see our purpose as creating a platform that inspires and connects our clients, people and partners to make positive change that endures.”
