Martin Davidson

About Martin Davidson

Highly versatile enterprise digital & design leader skilled at delivering creative excellence and all aspects of hiring, managing, and developing creative & design talent. Studio and agency builder. One Show, CA, FWA & W3-awarded Creative Director. Advertising Age “Digital Campaign of the Year” winner.As a leader on the Design Studio team driving digital transformation at KeyBank, I created a culture of collaboration, trust, and growth where people wanted to work. I’ve managed 30 direct reports across 14 states in the design thinking-driven internal Key Design Studio—Associate, Senior, and Principal Product Designers; Visual Designers; Conversational Designers; UX Writers; and strategists—who bring human-centered design practices and principles to agile teams in a high-performance, delivery-driven regulated environment. I understand how to manage a large, remote, enterprise design team for design impact while balancing salaries, employee retention, and finding the right people for the job.Prior, I was hired to lead new business and the 22-person design and developer team at Airtype Studio, which creates complex programming and high-concept design for Fortune 500, highly regulated, and consumer brands.As Global Creative Director for Krispy Kreme, I helped lead integrated strategic and creative marketing for the brand worldwide; managed external creative, social, digital and design agency partnerships; client team for 2 global agency pitches; and lead a team of 6 internal creative, content, design, production, and project management. I\'m a champion of client success, design thinking, human-centered design, and agency partners with a track record of growth at global, national and regional creative agencies, including 5 excruciatingly entrepreneurial years as Founder and President of my own. Portfolio: writercreativedirector.com.Skills: Articulating the Business Value of Design, Performance Management, People Management, Product Design Management, Workday, Talent Development, Design Thinking, Digital Transformation, Creative Direction, Concept and Content Development, Social Media Marketing, Brand Development, Brand Strategy, Copywriting, Creative Strategy, Creative Briefs, Agency Management, Client-Agency Relationships, Agency New Business Pitches and Presentations

Experience

1. SVP, Head of Design Excellence & Operations

   KeyBank

   Aug 2025 — Present · Cleveland, OH, US

   Reporting to KeyBank’s Chief Experience Design Officer, I lead the team ensuring excellence across our 50+ person UX Strategy, UI Design, UX Behavioral Research, Measurement, Employee Experience, Specialty Design/AI Innovation, and Process Engineering/CX Centricity teams—all helping advance KeyBank’s transformation to an experience (design)-led organization. • People Excellence: talent pipeline, professional development• Process Excellence: all facets of design operations including centralized intake, scoping, resource allocation & documentation• Platform Excellence: management of all tooling, training, vendor onboarding & management, contract negotiations, Governance Risk & Control• Portfolio Excellence: defining quality standards, enabling design thinking methodologies, implementing the Key Design System, measuring business value of design

Education

• The Creative Circus

  Copywriting

• Allegheny College

  BA, English

• The University of Sheffield

  British Literature

Skills

• Campaigns
• Concept Development
• Creative Strategy
• Google Adwords
• Online Marketing
• Content Development
• Management
• Brand Architecture
• Integrated Marketing
• Interactive Marketing
• Branding & Identity
• Brand Development
• Interactive Advertising
• Art Direction
• Mobile Marketing
• Advertising
• Sem
• Copywriting
• Social Media
• Marketing
• Creative Direction
• SEO
• Strategy
• Direct Mail
• Outdoor Advertising
• Digital Media
• Email Marketing
• Corporate Branding
• Brand Management
• Content Strategy
• Online Advertising
• Marketing Strategy
• Pitch Consulting
• Business Development
• Digital Marketing
• Relationship Marketing
• Marketing Communications
• Direct Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Digital Strategy