Zara Baker
Verified Expert in Marketing
Marketing Expert
San Diego, CA, United States
Toptal member since June 10, 2024
Zara is an MIT-trained interdisciplinary marketer and a former scientist with 16+ years of experience across industries in the US and internationally. Her expertise includes digital and AI transformation, customer experience personalization, brand planning, product launch, and commercial strategy. Zara is the chief digital innovation officer at VUE Health, where she launched the generative AI platform VUEVO.
Project Highlights
Expertise
Work Experience
Chief Innovation Officer
VUE Health
- Led digital and AI transformation for VUE Health and the agency's healthcare client portfolio.
- Built a digital team from the ground up and launched VUEVO, the agency's 1st generative AI studio.
- Rebranded and repositioned the agency to meet ever-evolving client needs in the experience age.
Fractional Chief Marketing Officer
Zara Baker Consulting
- Grew monthly recurring revenue for three independent agencies by over 30% and reduced costs by 20% through thought leadership, brand and product repositioning, and establishing a digital-first operational model.
- Gained over 160% increase in revenue for a precision medicine biotech startup through omnichannel marketing and AI-driven automation, with profits projected to reach $300+ million in 2024.
- Reached 900+ million patients and earned massive media coverage through digital-first psoriasis and vaccine awareness campaigns for Pfizer (Prevnar20) and Amgen (OTEZLA), featuring celebrities such as quarterback Joe Montana and pop icon Lance Bass.
- Increased share of voice (SOV) by 40% for Merck's global maternal health equity initiative by elevating the voices of impacted mothers on social media and establishing partnerships with nonprofit organizations.
Head of Digital & Omnichannel Strategy
Ionis Pharmaceuticals
- Built a digital function from the ground up, directed a team of at least five people, including global media agencies and contractors, and managed a budget of $4+ million.
- Achieved a 20-to-1 digital transformation ROI by deploying a patient-centric digital center of excellence that streamlined cross-functional collaboration, established digital governance, and optimized time-to-market.
- Increased change adoption rate by 70% by improving stakeholder buy-in through digital transformation literacy workshops and establishing a portfolio of digital innovation success.
- Improved brand net promoter score (NPS) from 20 to 50+ and eclipsed the largest competitor through omnichannel marketing, user experience personalization, and establishing a digitally responsive brand.
- Gained 9+ million members for Ionistrials.com and completed enrollment for clinical trials across various therapeutic areas, becoming a Medical Marketing & Media (MM&M) awards finalist for best multigenerational patient experience.
- Boosted SOV by 30% and won the 2020 Xconomy Building a Biotech award through "Every Moment Matters," a digital-first PR campaign that highlighted the incredible journey of patients and scientists in drug development.
- Directed the patient-facing digital media strategy for the launch of Waylivra and Tegsedi, medicines for treating FCS and hATTR-PN, respectively.
- Grew the corporate website's organic traffic by 300% through search engine optimization (SEO) and leveraging audience data insights to enhance patient experience.
Digital Transformation Lead
Smoflipid
- Built a digital marketing function from the ground up. Sourced and managed a team of at least 10 direct reports, including five global media agencies, and managed a budget of $20 million.
- Spurred a 15-to-1 ROI by driving an enterprise, digital-first, go-to-market strategy for 20+ pharma and medical device products in the US and EU markets.
- Grew patient acquisition by 60% through omnichannel marketing, leveraging SEO, SEM, email, CRM, and traditional channels for 20+ pharma and medical device products.
- Increased medical device share by over 42% by driving full-lifecycle marketing campaigns, reaching over 50+ million audiences, and improving customer lifetime value (CLTV) by 20%.
- Enhanced cross-functional collaboration and slashed content approval cycle by 30% by launching an omnichannel center of excellence, implementing a data privacy solution, and conducting a series of digital literacy and best practice workshops.
- Improved brand NPS to 40+ by leveraging market analysis insights and launching highly targeted personal and non-personal promotional campaigns.
Head of Digital
USA Vein Clinics
- Gained a 10-to-1 ROI by driving patient marketing strategy for multibrand group practice.
- Scaled the organization from one state to a national level by establishing a digital operational model and personalizing brand experience.
- Launched digital PR campaigns such as #FibroidFighters that reached millions of patients and became a nationwide movement.
Project History
Connecting with a Senior Patient Audience with Omnichannel Marketing
Led an omnichannel marketing strategy for USA Vascular Centers, using a combination of digital and traditional media channels—reaching over 5 million patients and increasing SOV by 40+ and patient appointments by 30%.
Do a #DoubleTake with Lance Bass
Launched Amgen's psoriasis awareness campaign featuring pop icon Lance Bass. Reached 750 million people through an engaging campaign narrative and strategic media placements.
"Do a Double Take" is a digital PR campaign to increase awareness of PsA and Otezla. This campaign featured pop icon and entrepreneur Lance Bass, who created a TikTok-style dance routine and song to encourage people to recognize the early signs of PsA and empower them to take action. The "Double Take" campaign reached over 750 million people via paid, earned, and owned media channels and received massive press coverage.
Driving Digital Transformation from Molecule to Market
Optimized the time-to-market for Ionis Pharma and improved multi-stakeholder audience experience by leveraging a people-centered leapfrog approach to digital transformation.
1. Digital Readiness – I ran a comprehensive digital readiness assessment to establish a solid foundation for the digital transformation journey, evaluating the organization's current state across multiple dimensions.
2. Strategy and Vision – This comprised leadership and governance, technology infrastructure, data and analytics, processes and operations, and organizational culture.
3. Digital Innovation North Stars – I established an enterprise ambition focused on faster time to market and digitizing the patient experience. These goals represented each function in the organization.
4. Digital Governance – I deployed a digital center of excellence with a central team to establish digital governance and streamline processes, creating a robust governance framework to oversee digital initiatives and ensure alignment with business goals.
5. Education and Training – I conducted digital innovation workshops and fostered an inclusive, digital-first culture. This involved comprehensive training programs to upskill employees and foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation.
Education
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Digital Marketing
Edinburgh Business School - Edinburgh, UK
Certifications
Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy
Executive Program | via MIT Sloan School of Management
Skills
Core
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Digital Marketing Product Management, Digital Marketing Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Social Media Marketing, SEM, SEO, Omnichannel Marketing, Email Marketing, Branding, SMS Marketing, PR, Influencer Marketing, Video Ads, Performance Marketing, GTM Marketing, Google Ads, Lead Generation, YouTube Ads, Google SEO, Content Marketing, Instagram Growth, Instagram Management, Social media management, Marketing Analytics, Paid Advertising, Brand Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Channel Strategy, Content Strategy, Copywriting, Local SEO, Audience Targeting, Market Research & Analysis, PPC Advertising, Content Strategy, On-page SEO, SEO Auditing, CRO, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Marketing, Social Media Content Creation, TikTok Marketing, Content Creation, Growth Hacking, Marketing Transformation, Ad Campaigns, Social Media Marketing, Facebook Marketing, Community Management, Customer Engagement, Social Media Strategy, A/B Testing, Funnel Optimization, Funnel Marketing, Google Tag Manager, Google Paid Ads, Facebook Video Ads, Content, Affiliate Marketing, TikTok Ads, SEO Tools, Marketing Design, SEO, Email Campaigns, Product Marketing, SEO Content, Social Media Platforms, Media Buying, Brand Strategists, Marketing Automation, Email Marketing Automation
Platforms & Tools
HubSpot API, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consulting, Google Analytics, Bing Ads, Google My Business, TikTok, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Business Intelligence (BI) Platforms, HubSpot Marketing, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), Pardot
Business Models
B2B Design, Business to Government (B2G), SaaS Product Marketing, Business to Business (B2B), B2C
Other
WordPress Development, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Strategy , Client Management, Digital PR, Digital Transformation, Change Management, Organizational Development, Team Building, Digital Brand Identity, Digital Creative Direction, Corporate Development, Profitability Optimization, Digital Agencies, E-commerce marketing, Business Development, Growth Marketing, Blog Writing, Webflow, International SEO, Presentation Design, Brand Management, Naming, Market Research Analyst, Pricing Analysis, Consumer Services, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Market Research Analyst, Pricing Strategy, Marketing Plans, Press Release Marketing, Personal Branding, Ad Optimization, Customer Acquisition, Launch Strategy, Startup Marketing, Startup Development, Meta Ads, UX Development, Growth Strategy, Healthcare App Design, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Video Scripts, B2B Marketing Strategy, B2B Marketing, Google Optimize, CRM, Healthcare Services, Social Listening, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Fashion, Sustainable Design, Shopify, Nutrition & Supplements, QA Testing, Promotional Videos, Graphic Design, Customer Journeys, Reporting, Website Audits, Go-to-market Plans, Value Proposition, Instagram, Data Analysis, Business Intelligence Development, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Keyword Analysis, Digital Marketing, Video Editing, Brand Awareness, Sales Growth, Revenue Growth, Luxury Industry, Reports, Salesforce Design, 6sense, Lead Nurturing, Event marketing, Communication Coaching, YouTube SEO, Engagement Strategy, Content Writing, X (formerly Twitter) Development, Product Launch Strategy, Lead Marketing, Digital Health, Web Development, Mobile App Design, Digital Branding, Digital Media, Data Science, P&L Management, GoDaddy, Adobe Software Development, Affinity Marketing, Etsy
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