Resume — Marker Mayhem

Mark William Mills

markwilliammills@gmail.com

Professional Summary

Competencies

Creative director and systems leader with strong record of experience in building scalable creative operating models for enterprise brands.

I have a proven record of increasing team capacity by redesigning workflows, information pipelines, and enhancing client collaboration. I turn complex, high-volume commerce programs into repeatable systems that reduce production time, minimize churn, and accelerate speed to market.

Agency and client leaders value me as a trusted partner skilled at structuring major initiatives, aligning cross-functional teams, and scaling creative operations across brands, categories, and channels.

Creative Direction • Team Leadership • Campaign Development • Digital Shelf Strategy • eCommerce Creative • Brand Systems Design • Creative Operations • Content Scaling • Multi-Agency Leadership • Stakeholder Management • DTC Campaigns • Rebrand & Refresh • Production Efficiency • AI-Augmented Creative Systems

Professional Experience

Associate Creative Director, Digital Shelf

Mars United Commerce

February 2024 — present

Designed and operationalized scalable production systems for high-volume commerce work, replacing fragmented, labor-intensive workflows with standardized processes that increase throughput, reduce revision cycles, and enabled teams to absorb substantially greater client demand without proportional increases in production effort.

Built a standardized client-to-agency information pipeline for complex, scalable programs, defining how product data, content requirements, source assets, and approvals enter the creative process. Partnered with client stakeholders to socialize and adopt the model, reducing ambiguity, rework, and production inconsistencies.

Proved and expanded these systems with high-volume client programs, including 7-UP’s “Flip the Sip” rebrand campaign and KDP’s hot beverage portfolio packaging revision, touching nearly 50 brands and over 1,000 SKUs. End-to-end production costs were reduced from 6+ hours per SKU to less than 60 minutes per SKU. These models are presently informing broader KDP and cross-category creative operations.

Art Director

Groupon

April 2020 — January 2024

Led creative for Groupon’s Pride activation across four markets: Chicago, San Diego, Phoenix, and Dublin, Ireland. Produced original graphics including signage, vehicle decals, apparel, and swag for street distribution. Coordinated logistics with city officials, internal leads, vendors, and more than 30 participants.

Grew social engagement by 30% over three years by consolidating a fragmented social media marketing system into a small collection of dedicated accounts across four platforms; each tailored to demographic, engagement metrics, and audience expectations. Pitched and deployed a humor-forward, brand-aligned content strategy, and collaborated with a team of copywriters, photographers, and designers crafting content satisfying a demanding production cadence while staying relevant to real-time developments.

Updated brand voice, brand visuals, typography, color system, photography style, and brand guide in collaboration with the art direction team, creative direction, and Groupon CEO.

Sr. Designer

Groupon

May 2017 — April 2020

Assumed creative leadership of LivingSocial following Groupon’s acquisition, developing a templatized system of production to tighten turnaround on display and email creative. By restructuring the production pipeline, I reduced time costs by up to three hours per request.

Eliminated stock photography costs tied to Groupon’s Criteo display ads program by developing and AB testing an in-house illustration and animation system optimized for small placements that outperformed stock photography by 1.5%.

Unified Groupon Goods PDP photography globally by socializing a style guide I developed with creative direction that formalized editing processes to deliver a consistent Groupon Goods experience across all markets.

Education

BA Arts and Communication, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Tools and Technologies

Adobe Creative Suite • Figma • Canva
AI design, image, content, and process strategy tools (Claude, GPT, Firefly, Midjourney)
Retail Media Platforms (Amazon Advertising, Walmart Connect)
Microsoft Office • Google Workspace