MRINetwork (Management Recruiters International) was founded in 1965 as the world’s first executive search firm franchise. Over the past 55 years, MRI has maintained its position at the forefront of talent access, serving a network of over 300 firms around the world—but its brand was stuck in the past. 

From legacy franchise to modern membership

I was first brought on to help reposition the MRI brand as a forward-facing, flexible membership model in place of its business-in-a-box franchise reputation. To bring this refined brand and voice to life, I proposed a reimagined sitemap that offered a simpler, more intuitive user experience.

The next step was to condense a 20,000+ word site into an impactful 7,000 word journey that more appropriately reflected MRI’s unique POV on digital transformation in the search industry.

Building a digital destination

With a new site in place, the next piece to tackle was the blog. To date, press coverage and blog content had been grouped together and hidden in a confusing archive experience that didn’t encourage site exploration or position MRI as thought leaders in the World of Work. 

I led the redesign of the MRI Blog and developed a year-long content strategy to guide ongoing production that more effectively targeted MRI’s primary audiences: recruiters and recruitment firm owners. Organic traffic to the MRI blog increased by 30% within the first five months.

A CEO’s go-to-market strategy

In 2018 Bert Miller acquired MRINetwork, to lead the organization through digital transformation as President and CEO. Despite bringing over 25 years of leadership experience at the helm of executive search firm, Protis Global (an MRINetwork member office), Bert’s personal brand clout was somewhat limited to the F&B heavyweights—think: Redbull, Bacardi, and Hostess—that had been his clients for years.

I managed a large PR scope designed to build Bert’s credibility as the leader of a large multinational, and the 3rd largest direct hire organization in the U.S. This included:

• Overseeing all earned media coverage acquired by MRI’s PR agency

• Managing advertising strategy and guest outreach for a new video podcast, Beyond the Bottom Line with Bert Miller

• Writing SEO copy for Bert’s personal website