Marketing Consultant · Brooklyn & Hudson, NY

I listen carefully, then do something surprising.

I help organizations find their audience and reach them — through strong fundamentals in social, email, content, and paid media. And the occasional idea nobody saw coming.

10+
Years in arts & culture
NYC
Brooklyn & Hudson based
MA
Art History, NYU
Audiences, donors & communities

Brand Strategy Content & SEO Paid Media Email Social

Marketing rooted in deep listening — and a decade in culture.

I'm Michael — a marketing consultant with a decade spent inside New York's cultural institutions.

What I do consistently is listen. I spend real time understanding an organization — its people, its tensions, its genuine strengths — and then finding the thread that connects all of that to an audience, whether built or entirely new. The ideas that emerge from that process tend to be unexpected: sometimes a triggered email sequence, sometimes an influencer collaboration, sometimes a Tolkien-themed evening for 685 guests that earned an interactive feature in The New York Times.

My background is in arts and culture, but the approach translates broadly — any organization with a real story to tell is a good fit. When a project calls for design, photography, video, or illustration, I can scope, brief, and coordinate the right specialists so you have one relationship to manage, not five.

Get in touch →
Selected experience
  • The Morgan Library & Museum Mgr, Marketing & Social Media
  • R & Company Marketing Manager
  • Roundtable by 92NY Director of Marketing
  • MoMA PS1 Previous role
  • Center for Book Arts Previous role
  • Alejandro Jassan Press & Social · Freelance
  • Studio Humelim Brand & Content · Freelance
  • Eskenazi Zemaitis Brand Strategy · Freelance
  • Listen first, always The best ideas come from genuinely understanding an organization — its people, its culture, what makes it irreplaceable. I ask a lot of questions before I say anything.
  • Unexpected is often best The ideas that really move people tend to come from an oblique angle. I'm always looking for the connection that isn't obvious but, once you see it, feels inevitable.
  • Community over metrics Numbers matter, but the goal is people who genuinely care — who show up, bring friends, donate, and come back.
  • No jargon, no fluff I communicate clearly and directly. You'll always know what I'm thinking, what I'd recommend, and why.

How I can help.

Focused engagements across four areas — always tailored to where your organization is and where it wants to go.

01

Brand Strategy

Clarify who you are and what you stand for — and make sure that story rings true across every touchpoint, from your website to your communications to your public presence.

  • Positioning and messaging
  • Audience research
  • Brand voice and tone
  • Visual identity direction
02

Content & SEO

Build a content presence that draws people in organically and keeps your organization findable, relevant, and worth following over time.

  • Editorial strategy and planning
  • SEO audits and keyword research
  • Thought leadership and storytelling
  • Website optimization
03

Social & Paid Media

Reach new audiences on the platforms where they are — with content native to the medium and campaigns built to perform within real-world constraints.

  • Social media strategy and management
  • Google Ad Grants (nonprofits)
  • Meta, Instagram, and LinkedIn
  • Creative direction and copy
04

Email Marketing

Your email list is your most loyal audience. I'll help you communicate with them in a way that feels personal, builds trust, and drives meaningful action.

  • Newsletter strategy and writing
  • Welcome and onboarding sequences
  • Donor and member retention
  • List health and segmentation
Also available

When a project calls for it, I can bring in and manage trusted specialists — web designers, photographers, video teams, graphic designers — so your organization has a single point of contact from strategy through execution.

A few things I've worked on.

From major institutions to small studios — every engagement starts with listening.

Marketing & Social
The Morgan Library & Museum
New York, NY

Opening a storied institution to a new generation

The Morgan Library & Museum has one of the great collections in the world — and a reputation, long-held, for being a little forbidding. My work there was fundamentally about changing that: building programs and experiences that made the institution feel genuinely welcoming to younger and more diverse audiences, without compromising what made it extraordinary.

That meant creating The Morgan, After Hours — a weekly free happy hour that brought a new crowd through the doors on a regular basis — and producing the institution's first Pride event, LGBTQ+ & Friends: A Night OUT at the Morgan. It meant conceiving "A Long-expected Party," a sold-out Tolkien-themed evening for 685 guests in costume that earned an interactive feature in The New York Times. And it meant developing The Morgan, Connected — a digital initiative that centralized the institution's online resources and launched a new email program, recognized by Apollo Magazine as their Digital Innovation of the Year, 2020.

Audience Development Brand Strategy Email Marketing Programming Press Coverage
Marketing
R & Company
New York, NY

Building marketing infrastructure for one of design's most respected galleries

At R & Company I worked across channels to develop the gallery's marketing from the ground up. I built out their email program into targeted segments — creating pathways that helped the sales team understand exactly who their clients were and what they responded to. I developed their social channels into a visually dynamic, on-brand presence that reflected the gallery's extraordinary eye. And I served as the in-house lead on the marketing strategy for Objects: USA 2024, coordinating between the internal team and an external agency to keep everything coherent across a landmark show.

Brand activation was part of the mix too — including a JELL-O Furniture Making Workshop with designer Luam Melake, an interactive experience that invited participants to engage with her work through material and form. Events like this are, in my view, among the most effective tools for building lasting brand awareness.

Email Marketing Social Media Campaign Strategy Agency Coordination
Press & Social
Alejandro Jassan
Ongoing

Social media management for an art world press consultant

Ongoing social media management for a press consultant working with artists and cultural institutions — maintaining a consistent, active presence that reflects his expertise and the world he operates in.

Social Media Management Content Creation Arts & Culture
Brand & Content
Studio Humelim
Brooklyn, NY

Driving nursery sales with targeted content and Meta ads

Studio Humelim is a native plant studio and nursery in Brooklyn with a devoted local following. I developed social content around their seasonal sales, ran targeted Meta campaigns to reach new customers, and built out their email program to keep the community engaged year-round.

Meta Ads Social Content Email Setup
Brand Strategy
Eskenazi Zemaitis
New York, NY

Launching a historical design dealership from the ground up

Eskenazi Zemaitis is a new dealership specializing in historical design — a field where reputation and connoisseurship are everything. I worked with the founders to launch the brand: developing their identity, building the website, setting up Mailchimp, and establishing a visual and verbal direction that communicates authority, curiosity, and care in equal measure.

Brand Identity Website Email Setup Brand Launch

Start a conversation.

The best projects begin with a good conversation. Whether you have a specific brief in mind or a sense that your marketing could be working harder, I'm glad to hear from you.

Got it — thank you!

I'll be in touch within 1–2 business days.