Chel Lancaster

Reporting to the SVP and GM, Global Basic Industries, I am responsible for developing, planning and implementing best-practice marketing communications to further business strategy while reinforcing brand and culture across three highly matrixed global industries: Power, Primary Metals, and Mining.

Strategic Leadership and Advisory

• Serves as a trusted advisor to senior leadership; elected member of Ecolab’s Senior Communications Advisory Council.
• Develops and implements comprehensive marketing communications strategies to reach target audiences and strengthen brand positioning.

Brand Messaging and Content Creation

• Oversees brand positioning and messaging across multiple platforms and channels.
• Creates engaging, multi-format content for sales enablement, websites, social media, and targeted/account-based marketing campaigns.

Team and Agency Management

• Leads cross-functional teams and directs internal and external full-service agencies to execute integrated marketing campaigns.
• Manages two in-house marketing communications specialists and mentors junior staff on best practices.

Digital Strategy and Optimization

• Drives strategies to increase website traffic through organic search optimization.
• Coordinates internal communications to enhance employee awareness and organizational alignment.

• Developed and implemented external and internal integrated marketing communications strategies to differentiate Nalco Water’s innovative solutions for three global Heavy Water industries (Primary Metals, Chemical, Power).
• Planned and implemented communications for division spin off a $450M new global organization.
• Developed c-suite talking points and video scripts for top executives, including Global Executive Vice President & General Manager, Global Senior Vice President, Vice President & General Manager.
• Recipient of three Marketing Excellence Awards for change-management communications in division spin off, social media marketing campaigns, and communications to launch internal digital training.
• Q4 2021 “Comm Star” peer-recognition award winner.
• Managed Marketing Associates for Power and Primary Metals industries.

• Served as Marketing Communications Manager simultaneously for three divisions within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory.
• Collaborated with leadership within each division to develop and execute internal and external integrated communications plans to further the divisions’ strategies.

• Recruited from within the laboratory to complete an interdepartmental consulting assignment to implement best practices for effective, strategic marketing to promote the lab’s public lecture series.
• Boosted public event registration by 68%.
• Finalized full lecture series at the start of the year to allow for (first ever) full-series promotion.
• Introduced key user-experience improvements to streamline and clarify event registration for attendees.
• Created a highly successful hands-on, interactive public event reception concept to broaden visitors’ awareness of lab’s breadth of research.

• In this laboratory division that housed the world’s fastest supercomputer, I led efforts to define strategic objectives for user training, including in-house, virtual, and video-based training.
• Planned and executed annual calendars of outreach activities for international user base, including weeklong workshops and user videoconferences.
• Worked on multi-laboratory teams to conduct joint training events.
• Procured contracts for third-party ancillary services, including annual $45K+ videography services.
• Coordinated and served as liaison to the facility’s User Advisory Council.
• Led production of workshop videos that garnered praise from HPCwire editors and earned a monthly feature spot in their online publication.
• Through detailed planning and quick work, secured $10K in free collateral and printing for lab-wide public-facing Energy Expo.
• Led efforts to improve user satisfaction survey, resulting in response rates that routinely surpassed industry standards.

• Responsible for all aspects of “from the ground up” communications for the new supercomputing program, including strategic communications planning, establishing and overseeing communications channels (print, online, social media, outreach, trade shows), and content creation and production management (articles, fliers, brochures, posters).
• Coordinated and directed user-training events and public outreach.
• Developed and implemented supporting policies and procedures to transition these initiatives to steady state.
• Developed a full suite of award-winning print and electronic marketing materials (Society for Technical Communications awards: 2009, 2011, 2012).
• Moved new user training to virtual environment, boosting participation and reducing cost to the lab.
• 100% of participants responded that they would join future online training events.
• Received consistently above average ratings (4.5/5) on annual weeklong scaling workshops (Leap to Petascale, Mira Bootcamp).

• Responsible for day-to-day direction of a full-service, in-house marketing communications department of 24 professionals (designers, copy writers, etc.) with annual operating budgets in excess of $8M.
• Integral in the development and execution of annual marketing and corporate communications plans to support organizational strategic goals.
• Provided final editorial and production approval on all corporate communications, including marketing materials, advertising and numerous member periodicals.
• Promoted from department manager to director.
• Led multi-million-dollar corporate identity and product awareness campaigns—including outdoor, newspaper, radio and television advertising in multiple Illinois markets that consistently made Health Alliance a leader in top-of-mind consumer awareness and the most sought-after health plan in downstate Illinois.