Hi there! I'm Nicholas Betlow –
a fervent creative solutionist, brand architect, & an ambassador for transformative CX.
A story to tell
The past two decades have allowed me to call myself an award-winning creative and marketing executive with experience in multiple industries creating iconic work and overseeing creative and digital marketing strategies for many international brands with complex challenges and transformation needs. I have had the pleasure to help corporations and agencies establish market leadership in creative excellence, brand recognition, market position, and CX innovation. My experience of leading creative, digital marketing, and CX teams in both corporate and agency environments—developing innovative solutions for B2C, B2B, and B2E. It is always exciting for me to build departments and businesses from the ground up utilizing a keen ability to pull talent and establish strong driven teams.
I have been fortunate that my work has been awarded and recognized through some amazing organizations—The Webby’s, MarCom Awards, W3 Awards, the ADDYs, Creative International Awards, Stevie Awards, Hermes Creative Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and featured in Progress Sitefinity’s Top 5 Websites of 2014.
The skills that make the solutions come to life.
Dream it.
Brand Development
CX Strategies
Enterprise UX/UI
Ideation Design Strategies
Data-driven Design &
Development
Predictive Marketing &
Design Strategies
Persona & Audience Development
Digital Transformation
Strategies
Brand-to-market & Go-to-market Strategies
Fractional CMO Services
Build it.
Creative Direction
Enterprise CMS
Implementation
Digital Development &
Analysis
Web & Application Development
CRM Development
Salesforce (Sales & Marketing Clouds)
Hubspot
MS Dynamics
Product Development &
Engagement Strategies
Demand & Lead Generation Marketing Strategies
Team Development
Sell it.
Small-to-Enterprise Marketing Strategies
Omni-channel Marketing Strategies
Digital Marketing Strategies
SEO/SEM
Paid Media Strategies
PPC
Social Media
Platform and Audience continuity
Geo-targeting
Multi-media Strategies
Social Media Marketing
Marketing Automation
Print Fulfillment Solutions
Sales Automation &
Enablement Strategies
Grow it.
Brand Analysis & Market Equity Analysis
M&A Integration & Marketing Strategies
Account-based Marketing & Personalization Strategies
User Journey Strategies
Re-engagement Marketing Strategies
AI Machine Learning & Bot Integrations
Data Aggregation, Transformation, & Analytic
The Experience
My executive journey & highlights
Feb 2022 - Current
Product Engagement &
CX Strategies
At Ameritas, I have been chartered to lead and drive the strategic development and execution of integrated marketing communications, digital and product experiences and provide leadership for all deliverables for the product communications—understanding the competitive financial services and retirement plans retail landscape, developing impactful strategies in the service of customer needs, and providing optimal customer experiences (CX).
VP Marketing
I joined FreightCenter, one of the leading full-service shipping and 3PL solutions providers, in April 2021 to help the organization tackle the ever-growing and amplified post-pandemic market compression and complexities of the supply chain industry.
Apr. 2021 - Feb. 2022
Executive Director of Marketing
Sep. 2013 - Jan. 2021
From September 2013 through January 2021, I led the digital and creative strategies for PCS Retirement and Aspire Financial Services—one of the nation's largest independent and conflict-free retirement solution providers. PCS acquired Aspire in 2019, and together they provide recordkeeping services to over 19,000 plans and 850,000 eligible participants representing more than $26 billion in assets under administration.
I work closely with the lean but mighty team of Own in South Tampa on developing digital strategies and products for the niche real estate market of South Tampa, FL, providing leadership with marketing and brand strategies—engaging new opportunities and gaining market share through brand equity.
Chief Creative + Marketing Officer
Apr. 2016 - Jan. 2021 (Consultative Position)
Board Director
Proudly served two terms for the American Advertising Federation (AAF), holding a director seat for the organization’s communications and design strategies. Worked with some amazing folks to enforce the organization’s goals to promote fellowship, education, and career enhancement throughout the advertising community; foster excellence in the industry; champion public service causes; and encourage self-regulation and continuous improvement to raise industry benchmarks. Our local chapter was very fortunate and honored to win Club of the Year during my tenure.
Jun. 2015 to Nov. 2016
I founded Allusive Art early in my career as a side business. Over time it grew to be a very successful small brand agency—working on many projects and clients of all different sizes. After many successful years, I decided to dissolve the agency and sell the majority of clients to trusted relationships in pursuit of a full-time marketing and creative & marketing leader for Aspire Financial Services.
Chief Creative Officer + Founder
Jan. 2004 - Sep. 2016
Creative Director + CX Leader
During my time at Datex Corporation, I led the organization's creative & digital strategies. I worked with some fantastic people, launched the firm’s refreshed brand identity into the international marketplace, and transformed its digital assets to enhance its overall CX.
Datex is a leading developer state-of-the-art supply chain solutions, including warehouse management software, procurement software, light manufacturing software, sales force automation software, and cartonization software.Datex provides solutions to clients across the globe throughout North America, Latin America, and the Middle East. Datex is a certified Microsoft Gold Partner and a consistent winner of supply chain awards such as Inbound Logistics Top 100 Logistics IT Company and Food Logistics FL 100.
Feb. 2012 - Sept. 2013
Art Director + Head of Creative
Oct. 2005 to Feb. 2012, I led creative and production teams for Born to Ride, Inc. and Media Design Shop (MDS).
At Born To Ride, I directed a fantastic creative team. I worked with some of the industry’s most exciting brands, overseeing direction on over 200+ reoccurring brand strategies and ad campaigns every month. We produced a multitude of creative executions for several national publications, digital campaigns, and multimedia for our weekly TV cable show.
Director of Graphic Design
Caliente Resorts was my introduction to the world of in-house design, working at an international luxury resort corporate office. In my role, I led all design for the brand strategies for both U.S. and international markets.
Jan. 2003 - Sep. 2005.
Questions?
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you have a complex business problem that needs a creative solution. Whatever it is, let’s start a conversation to see what we can come up with.
Let’s start a conversation
Thanks for visiting my page. My passion and focus have always been to understand, research, and execute user behavior to create unique, fulfilling experiences—developing creative solutions for today's business challenges. I have prioritized creating experiences, not simply a brand or siloed strategies, focusing on Omni solutions. It is a goal of mine to be persistent in my methodology to aggregate, assess, and execute—developing consistent and agile results.
I live in Tampa Bay with my beautiful wife and fur kid; I am a polyglot, world nomad, self-proclaimed comic book sage, collector of peculiar things, and a dram enthusiast.