1. Empowerment
Marketing and
Communications
Empowerment Marketing and Communications
Zeina El-Fakih, Elethia Singletary, Tommia Hayes
1800 K St. NW
Ste. 300
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 863-8529
www.Empowerment.com
Bluemercury
Response to Request for
Proposal

2. 2 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Table of Contents

3. 3 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Who We Are
Empowerment Marketing & Communications Group (EMC) is full-service research marketing and communications
firm in Washington, DC. EMC specializes in innovative research marketing strategies, strategic brand management and
creative solutions.
Empowerment Marketing & Communications was founded by Zeina El-Fakih, Tommia Hayes and Elethia Singletary 10
years ago. Upon completion from graduate school at American University in 2007 they decided to start their own
company. Seeing then not many marketing and communications firms mixing traditional media tactics with new media
platforms, they figured to be the first.
Starting with just two clients in the DC metro area has now served over 150 businesses in the area. With the help of our
company our client’s sales on average go up from 20%-35%. Our new cliental has helped us earn awards in marketing
and has been labeled five years in the row of small companies to watch out for. EMC has been featured in publications
like: The Wall Street Journal, The Washingtonian and The New York Times.
Being a diverse staff of millennials and understanding that generation’s values gives this company a competitive edge.
This is how we continue to succeed in research and implementing effective and succesful communication campaigns.
We Are About
We are a firm that believes in getting results and making sure the clients is always happy. We strive in reporting accurate
data, presenting our clients with primary and secondary research, and launching a successful campaign. Our priority is
maintaining the client’s repo rum and our company’s as well. Lastly, we strive on completing tasks on deadlines agreed
upon both parties.
Our Mission: Creativity through innovative strategies.
Our Goal: To help our clients: increase market revenue, understand and engage their audience, craft relevant messaging,
expand brand awareness and loyalty through social engagement, maximize / nurture ROR (Return on Relationships) with
consumers, and develop cutting edge social media campaigns. Also, having a better understanding of what their customers
needs and wants from the company.

4. 4 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Challenge Overview
Who are Bluemercury’s competitors?
Regarded as the fastest growing luxury beauty products and spa retail chain, Bluemercury Inc. has 64 stores nationwide.
On February 3, 2015, Macy’s Inc. spent $210 million to acquire the Washington, DC based luxury brand. Considered
small when compared to some of the beauty & cosmetic industry bigwigs, Bluemercury has emerged as a fierce industry
competitor to leading global brands to the likes of French brand Sephora.
Founded in 1999, Bluemercury is known for appealing its high-end beauty products and spa services to an older female
clientele. Setting its future ambitions on direct competition with the industry’s leading brand, Sephora, Bluemercury has
already set its eyes on expanding their high quality beauty products, knowledge experts, and unique shopping
experience—360 Degrees of Luxurious Living—to its rivals consumer base, Millennials.

5. 5 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Serving as the luxury beauty ambassador of the Nation’s Capital, Bluemercury’s innovative retail model offers its client’s
a unique shopping experience that feature unparalleled spa service, hard-to-find exclusive products, and is home to some
of the newest beauty treatments. The future of Bluemercury is to expand its product knowledge, beauty expert advice and
friendly service to a younger consumer market in the Washington, DC area.
Sephora
Nordstroms
Bloomingdales
MAC
Ultra Beauty
Big Box Stores
Drugstore
Spa DC-Region
Red Door
Nectar Skin
Bar
Immortal
Beloved
David Rios
Salon and Spa
Karma Beauty
Lounge
Bliss Spa
Four Seasons
Spa
Sugar House
Day Spa

6. 6 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Geographic Competitors

7. 7 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Situational Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
 Fastest growing luxury beauty products and spa retail experience
 Offers clients 360 Degree of Luxurious Living—where every persons beauty needs are unique
 Beauty advisors—product knowledge experts
 Personalized customer service
 Free sample designer products
 Spa services
 No-pressure buying environment
 Free beauty tips and resources
 Believes in establishing their clients trust
 Located in the Nation’s Capital—higher median earnings
 Clients are established working professionals with no time to search for beauty and spa solutions
 Serving clients for over 15 years in the DC-area
 Four locations in DC: Dupont Circle, Farragut North, Georgetown, *Union Station
 No major industry competitors in DC
 High quality products
 Designer products
Weaknesses
 Associated with being for older white women
 Expensive product offerings
 Lacks diversity
 Poor use of social media
 Not connected to millennial consumers
 Brand is not friendly or accommodating to male consumers
 Weak online presence
 Limited website
 Unknown to local millennials; not a household name or topic of conversation
 Limited demographic reach
Opportunities
 New public communications, branding and marketing plans
 Developing interactive strategies for consumer engagement
 Create brand loyalty amongst rivals Target Sephora’s target market
 Seen as a small industry competitor by some rivals
 Reinvent brand to untapped demographics; millennials, men and minorities
 Increase revenue
 Brand awareness

8. 8 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
 Personal connection with millennial consumer
 Becoming a topic of conversation
 Social influencer
 Personalized products and service for men
 Change brand reputation to being an all-inclusive brand that meets everyone’s need
 Getting to know new target market, who they are, and what they want through market research
 Create new messaging that resonates with untapped demographic
 Create positive industry buzz and set new trends
 Millennials are open to new brands and forming new relationships
 Millennials are social influencers that have the power to affect the market
 Millennials are the largest generation in history
Threats
 Seen as a fierce competitor to Sephora the largest beauty product retailer
 Cheaper priced designer name brands
 Drugstores
 Online competitors pricing
 High priced products for the price conscious millennial
 Industry competition
 Millennials are connected 24/7 and want to be connected with brands in the same way

9. 9 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Opportunity Narrative
The Bluemercury 360 Degrees of Luxurious Living is a unique personal care experience that caters to every degree of a
young professional’s lifestyle. Whether it be running to the grocery store or getting dressed for work; the Bluemercury
360 Degrees of Luxurious Living is a personalized shopping experience that offers our clients top of the line beauty
products and spa services.
Our goal is to engage millennials in the Washington DC area through traditional, social, and digital media. Using existing
platforms to re-engage and introduce the 360 Degrees of Luxurious Living. Using the 360 Degrees of Luxurious Living
platform Bluemercury would do the following:
 Rebrand our messaging as an all-inclusive experience for men and women that is committed to using innovative
technology through traditional, social and digital media to stay connected to current and new millennial
consumers.
 Remain relevant by offering millennial consumers “what they want” through brand engagement opportunities
such as: retail open house events, social media campaigns, connected shopping, integrated merchandising.
 Maintain personalized two-way communication with millennial consumers.
 Build brand loyalty following by building an ongoing relationship through online communications.
We recommend using the following research methods to test the suggested messaging platform. They are:
1. Survey / Online
2. Ethnography
3. Focus Group
4. Qualitative & Quantitative Research

10. 10 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Bluemercury
Communication Plan
In order to clearly demonstrate our response to
the Request for Proposal, we have broken down
the communication plan into separate
deliverables. The strategic communication plan
will be an integrated plan and each of the
separate categories will be informed by the same
overarching strategy. The separate deliverables:
event marketing, web, media relations, social
media, publication, advertising, endorsement,
and online integration, will work together and
inform each other to become the Bluemerucy
strategic communication plan. There will be a
unifying creative strategy that the different
deliverables will be built around.
To ensure that the plan is integrated, the
different aspects of the communication plan will be guided by the same comprehensive situation analysis and will be
guided by the same overarching strategies. The different deliverables will work cohesively and will be informed by one
another, when needed. Below will be an overview of the situation analysis process and an overview of the creative
strategy that make up the core Bluemercury communication plan. This will be followed by a breakdown of the strategy of
each deliverable and the ways that each category will be used as part of the larger plan.

11. 11 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Bluemercury Situation Analysis
We performed a primary analysis of Bluemercury’s target audience and we performed an analysis of secondary data on
Bluemercury and its target audience. The goal of our situation analysis was to discover who the target Bluemercury
consumer is and what Bluemercury’s current brand identity and loyalty is among consumers.
The target for the Bluemercury strategic campaign is millennial men and women in the Washington DC area. Our primary
research of Bluemercury included a survey of millennial’s beauty habits and interaction with brands on social media. A
focus group was conducted with American University students to get a more comprehensive look at millennial’s shopping
and beauty habits and their favorite brands. We conducted ethnography of a Bluemercury store in Washington DC to
understand the clients that shop at Bluemercury and what the shopping experience is like for customers. Our key goals for
this research were to understand:
 How much do millennials currently spend on beauty products and what portion of their disposal income do they
allocate for beauty?
 What beauty brands and stores are millennials currently loyal to and why are they to those brands?
 What are the most important factors to millennials when purchasing a beauty product and what factors most
influence their decision to purchase a product?
 What experience have millennials had with Bluemercury and what is their shopping experience like at
Bluemercury?
 What beauty and cosmetic brands do millennials interact with on social media and what is important social media
content from brands that builds loyalty.
We performed an analysis of Bluemercury’s website and social media platforms. The goal of the content analysis of the
Bluemercury website was both quantitative (to see most repeated content and brands) and qualitative (to review the pros
and cons of the Bluemercury website. We analyzed Bluemercury’s social media to see how influential Bluemercury is on
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and several other major social sites. We used an analysis tool that reviews all
social media activity and scores the magnitude Bluemercury across different social media sites.
An analysis of Experian Simmons and Census data gives us a better understanding of Bluemercury’s target millennial
customer. Census data is used to understand the demographics of the Washington DC area population. We analyzed
Simmons data for millennial men and women to compare their shopping habits, their social media activity, and their
feelings about both against the average United States adult consumer.
Finally, we performed a competitive analysis of Bluemercury’s local and national competitors. We looked at companies
offering similar services and products, as well as spas and individual beauty brands with online and retail locations. Our
goals in the competitive analysis were to compare Bluemercury against competitors in the following ways:
 Retail location
 Social media influence
 Brand recognition
 In-store experience
 Online experience
 Product and service offering
 Advertising and marketing

12. 12 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Bluemercury Strategic Marketing and
Communication Plan
The results and findings of the situation analysis will help us understand Bluemercury’s target millennial consumer,
Bluemercury’s strengths and weaknesses as compared to competitors, and how Bluemercury can best engage its target
audience. We will use the findings to develop a core communication plan strategy, which will then be used to build the
different plan deliverables.
As previously stated, our millennial audience does not currently buy expensive products and price is an important factor
when they purchase a beauty product. The only more important factor when buying a product, for men and women, was
quality. Bluemercury’s millennial consumers want to know that when they purchase a product, it will be effective, it will
last on for hours, and the product will last for months. Currently, they primarily shop at drugstores and big-box stores for
skin and hair care products. Women millennial consumers will buy most cosmetic products from drugstores and Sephora.
Our millennial consumers look to their friends and to social media for product recommendations and reviews. Some
millennials feel that they get too much e-mail from companies and do not want to be sold on their social media, but most
millennials like to follow their favorite brands on social media. The content that they want to see from brands on social
media includes video tutorials, products on real people, and how to use products.
The central theme of our Bluemercury communication plan is 360 Degrees of Luxurious Living. The central questions of
our campaign are:
 How do we convince millennials that are concerned about price that luxury beauty products are worth the
expense?
 How do we engage millennials on social media and how do we build brand loyalty to Bluemercury on social
media?
360 Degrees of Luxurious Living
Our core strategy for the Bluemercury communication plan is: Bluemercury understands that luxury beauty products can
be expensive and that a young professional may not have hundreds to spend on beauty and cosmetics a month. Luxury
beauty products are worth the expense because of ingredients, effectiveness, and how long they last. Even if you cannot
afford to buy every product from a luxury brand, you should buy a few key skincare and cosmetic products because of
quality, ingredients, and that they will last longer. You should choose Bluemrcury because we are the best at giving
beauty advice. Whether in store, on our website, or on social media we give personalized recommendations and will help
you find the product that works best for you. There is no company like Bluemercury when it comes to customer
experience and customer service.
Below will be a preliminary breakdown of how we will use the above core strategy to construct each deliverable. Using
our experience in all facets of marketing and communication, we will recommend an optimal blend of communication
tactics that reflects our understanding of Bluemercury’s resources and goals. The action plan will include tactics for event
marketing, web, media relations, social media, publication, advertising, endorsement, and online integration. A
preliminary timeline and a framework for evaluation will follow it. We will send reports throughout the communication
plan for Bluemercury’s approval for next steps. Our ability to stick to the proposed calendar will depend on how soon
feedback is delivered. The proposed action plan will target millennials in the Washington DC area with the intention that
the strategy can be replicated on a national campaign.

13. 13 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Event Marketing
We have reviewed how Bluemercury is currently using its events and think that Bluemercury can use them to help achieve
its marketing communication goal. Events can help introduce the Bluemercury store to consumers that are buying most of
their beauty products online. We would like to initiate monthly in-store events. The events will provide complimentary
drinks and food. Events will include makeovers and beauty experts, tutorials, and will provide consumers the opportunity
to test products in store and take samples home. Our research showed that a majority of millennial consumers purchase
most of their beauty products online. The goal of the in-store events is to drive consumers to Bluemercury stores and
introduce the Bluemercury brand. We want to introduce millennial consumers to the Bluemercury shopping experience
and expert associates.
Web
Our situation analysis included a review of Bluemercury’s website. We assessed the usability and modernity of the
website. We have specific recommendations for enhancement to the design on the site. These recommendations are
geared toward improving the functionality, the content, and the branding power of Bluemercury’s website.
Recommendations for Blumercury.com:
 Ingredients and quality were important factors for millennial’s beauty decisions. Currently Bluemercury does not
have ingredients for their products on the website. We recommend that Bluemercury be transparent with
consumers and have a detailed ingredient list for each product.
 Bluemercury does not have a mobile site. We recommend that Bluemercury develop a mobile site for improved
functionality on smartphones and tablets.
 Currently, the only video content on Bluemercury’s website is interviews with the CEO. We recommend that
Bluemercury have a section on the website for video tutorials and videos of the products. There are no videos of
the products being used or showcased. We recommend that Bluemercury provide more education for customers.
 The product images on the Bluemercury website are images of the product in its container. We recommend that
the Bluemercury website add swatches of products to show clients the color and texture of products. There are
also no images or videos showing the products on real people.
 Bluemercury does not have an app. We recommend that Bluemercury develop a smartphone and tablet app.
So that Bluemercury can implement the above recommendations, we can take this deliverable beyond strategy and
provide key design elements. We partner with Gravitate Design, a DC based web design firm. They have extensive
experience in digital marketing and interactive design. Gravitate provides custom web development and app development
to enhance the design and functionality of Bluemercury.com.
Media Relations
Our media strategy will start by targeting local Washington DC media and news outlets. We will analyze the Washington
DC media environment and survey millennial men and women on their favorite local and national media sources. Our
core media strategy is going to be to use media stories on Bluemercury’s communication rebrand to promote our core
strategy. Bluemercury CEO, Marla Malcolm Beck, will reiterate theme in her personal media appearances. Our key media
messages:
 Bluemercury is rebranding its website and social media and is developing a mobile app. The reason for the
rebrand is that we want to replicate the Bluemercury store experience online. Bluemercury is doing this to
introduce themselves to millennials. We want millennials to have an exceptional experience in Bluemercury

14. 14 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
stores and on all Bluemercury online sites. Bluemercury is targeting millennials because most millennials
purchase a majority of their beauty products from drugstores and Bluemercury wants them to know the
importance of quality products and that it is worth the expense to buy key luxury products.
Social Media
Bluemercury currently has a prescence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube. An analysis of
Bluemercury’s social media platforms revealed that Bluemercury’s current social media content is niot making an impact.
 Facebook:
 Twitter:
 Pinterest:
 Instagram:
 Youtube:
Publication
We will perform a review of the Bluemercury publications, with particular attention to their consistency and impact.
Currently, the Bluemercury blog is not updated frequently or routinely. We recommend a refresh of Marla Malcolm
Beck’s blog. Current blog content focuses on Beck’s television appearances and product advertisements. We recommend
that the blog focus on more creative content with a sense of fun. We recommend adding beauty and product tips and
tutorials. Also, we suggest that the blog be more collaborative. The blog should focus more on the Bluemercury brand
than Beck as an individual. Our work would include redesigning the look and content of the Bluemercury blog and
newsletter.
Advertising
The Bluemercury advertising plan will have two parts (paid and earned). We will run a thorough analysis of how
Bluemercury and its competitors are currently utilizing the two forms of advertising. From there, we will propose an
advertising strategy with an overall approach to content, design, frequency, and placement. Premilinary goals:
 In-store events featured in major DC publications such as Brightest Young Things, DCist, and Washingtonian.
 Place Bluemercury on advertising on websites frequently visited by our men and women consumers.
 Earned media through partnerships with bloggers and lifestyle gurus.
 Earned media through social media content that encourages or requires reposting and interaction.
Endorsement
We recommend that Bluemerucyr partner and collaborate with local and national bloggers and vloggers. We suggest that
Bluemercury build rleationships with Washington DC and national video beauty gurus, lifestyle bloggers, beauty
bloggers, and fashion bloggers. The goal of these partnerships is to expose Bluemercury to a larger audience. Millennial
consumers trust blogger and online reviews. We can use bloggers to enhance loyalty to Bluemercury. Bluemercury can
feature bloggers and lifestyle gurus on its website, they can take over Bluemercury social media and be featured on social
media, and we can have videos of endorsers in store and or at home with Bluemercury products. In turn, Bluemercury will
be featured on their websites, in their videos, and on their social media. The central theme for this content will be the
ways to introduce luxury into your everyday routine. We already have an extensive network in Washington DC from prior
projects.

15. 15 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Online Integration
We will routinely assess Bluemercury’s website, social media sites, newsletter, blog, and media strategy. Our assessment
will consider the level of consistency and integration across all of these different platforms and the total branding impact
that they generate. There should be a central theme running through these platforms and they should be unified in their
presentation of the Bluemercury brand. Our evaluation will ask the central question: Are these various platforms
promoting the core Bluemercury strategy. We will continuously prepare reports of recommendations to enhance
integration and brand impact. We will revise recommendations based on feedback.
Timeline
Write Discussion Guide March 09- 13
Recruit Focus Group participants (Participants will receive demographic questions prior to attendance) March 16-20
Two Focus Groups Tuesday and Thursday 2 each day March 24 and 25
One starts at 6pm
One starts at 8:15pm
Evaluate Focus Group Data 30-April 10
Write focus group report through April 16
Present Finding to Client (Focus Group Report) April 17
Write survey discussion guide until April 20-24
Present survey guide on April 28
Launch online survey on Friday May 1
In-field ethnographies May 4,6,7
Run content analysis of Bluemercury website and content analysis of Bluemercury social media week of May 4 through
May 15
Evaluate Ethnography data through May 15
Present Ethnography Report and Content Analysis Report May 22
Survey closes June 5
Evaluate survey findings and write survey report June 8-12
Present survey report June 16
Develop Communication Campaign through June 30 and Present to client for approval on June 30
Campaign will include traditional, digital, and social media strategies
Campaign will include Bluemercury website strategies
Campaign will include in-store events
Campaign will include advertisement
Message Testing Focus Groups July 2 and 3
Two a day
One at 6 PM and one at 8:15 PM
Write Focus Group Report through July 9 and Present July 10
Present Focus Group Report to client July 13
Present Updated creative campaign plan to client on July 24
Launch creative campaign July 31
Monthly evaluation of campaign August 3-21
Write report and Present monthly report to client on August 28
Monthly evaluation September 1-25
Write evaluation report and present to client on September 30
October monthly evaluation October 1-23

16. 16 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Write report and Present to client on October 30
Evaluation of creative campaign November 2-13
Final Presentation November 16
Communication Evaluation
Empowerment Marketing and Communications over the course of eight months increased Bluemercury social media
accounts:
● Facebook likes went up 15%
● Twitter followers went up 15%
● Youtube subscribers went up 15%
● Pinterest followers went up 15%
Using Simply Measured analytics we were able to track content patterns and see what consumers like best. By learning
which content was most popular it helped us raise brand awareness through social media and bring up the followers and
likes.
Event Marketing:
We hosted 5 events throughout the Washington DC Metropolitan area. These events included discounted spa services and
free make up courses. Bluemercury will have giveaways. Hosting these two-hour event helped boost sales 10%
Online Integration:
We Revamped Bluemercury’s website. Making sure when from social media content to the website the message was
consistent and clear. We also made sure the website was mobile friendly for millennials to have easy access no matter
where they were. We track the analytics by using Google analytics. Throughout the course of eight months of us updating
the website consistently and rebranding this brought the hits on the website up 20%.
Messaging:
By conducting focus on millennials we found qualitative analysis on why so many don’t shop at Bluemercury. By
conducting two online survey that provided insight from millennials and generation x. This quantitative research helped us
learn what these customers liked and disliked about Bluemercury. By using most popular suggestions in stores are over
this helped bring the millennials demographic up 12% in Bluemercury stores.
Advertising:
Since Bluemercury doesn't do much promotion and advertising. We created online ads to pop up when accesing free email
account like Yahoo.com We had popular beauty bloggers and vlogers mentions us on their sites. We had ads pop up on

17. 17 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
free games played on mobile devices. Also we had free giveaways during fashion week in DC. This promotion helped
bring store traffic up 14%
Conclusion
Empowerment Marketing and Communications has the experience and the resources to position Bluemercury as the one-
stop-shop for all beauty and spa needs in the Washington DC area. Our campaign is designed to introduce Bluemercury to
millennials by building brand awareness in store, online, and through social media. By performing an exhaustive analysis
of millennials, Empowerment is uniquely situated to answer the difficult questions of:
 Who millennials are
 What factors influence their purchasing decisions
 Why they are loyal to brands
 How to build brand loyalty
Trust, quality product, and customer service are the most important to millennials when making a decision to purchase a
product. Bluemercury has all of these and we can help Bluemercury make that known. Bluemercury’s biggest asset is that
it provides the best beauty and cosmetic advice in the industry and we built our entire communication plan around that
fact. The core principle of 360 Degrees of Luxurious Living is to provide an unparalleled customer experience. We are
going to engage millennials and grow Bluemercury’s business by getting millennials to visit the store through events and
by rebranding Bluemercury’s online and social media presence. We are going to make Bluemercury the innovative by
providing the best beauty advice online. Customers will be able to use Bluemercury’s social media to seek advice from
beauty experts. The Bluemercury 360 Degrees of Luxurious Living is a personalized shopping experience that offers our
clients top of the line beauty products, education, and advice.

18. 18 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Appendix A
Client References
Under Armour, Inc.
1020 Hull Street, Ste. 300
Baltimore, MD 21230
Jessica Marsh
Contract Management
1-410-454-6765
jessica.marsh@underarmour.com
Ben’s Next Door
1211 U Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
DeShon Binder
Operating Manger
202-584-9371
dbinder@bensnextdoor.com
Marriott International, Inc.
10400 Fernwood Road
Bethesda, MD 20817
Sharon Jones
VP Global Brand Development
301-380-3000
sharon.jones_vp@marriottinternational.com

19. 19 Empowerment
1800 K Street NW, Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20006 | Office: 202-261-5200 | Fax: 202-261-5292
Appendix B
Contractor Biographies
Elethia Singletary
Project Manager
Elethia Singletary is the lead Project Manager for Empowerment Marketing and Communications. Known by her peers as
being a creative genius, Elethia is highly esteemed as a strategic brand management expert with demonstrated success in
brand development; innovative messaging, creative marketing tactics, and communications plan development.
Elethia’s success is evident in her proven ability to assess complex problems and develop, implement, and manage effective
solutions. Her specialties include: Strategic communication; public relations; government affairs; message development;
stakeholder, community, and employee engagement; internal/external communication; marketing; branding; team leadership
& supervision; project management; outreach; logistical coordination; relationship building; organizational communication;
executive communication; event planning & management; research, analysis & evaluation; public speaking; message and policy
development; Conflict Resolution Negotiation; crisis communication.
Zeina El-Fakih
Contract Manager
Zeina El-Fakih is the Contracts Manager for Empowerment Marketing and Communications. Before coming to
Empowerment 5 years ago. She obtained her bachelor's degree in finance from Stonehill College and went on to Harvard
University, where she obtained her Juris Doctor degree. Before coming to Empowerment, Zeina worked in the financial
industry for six years. She was the Senior Contracts Manager for Fidelity Investments. At Fidelity, Zeina led the
contractual process of analyzing contract issues to identify and eliminate or minimize risks and optimize value to Fidelity.
She excels at providing and applying industry and company specific expertise and strategic/tactical direction in the
development, negotiation, management and administration of complex contractual negotiations and supplier relationships
for assigned suppliers.
Zeina has a track record of success in ultra-competitive and high-pressure environments. Her specialties include: Budget
management, strategic communication planning, stakeholder partnership and development, program development and
implementation, product development, education and public outreach, media relations, writing, editing, community
relations, website design, event planning and coordination, and collateral development. She is series 77 and series 66
licensed.