HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN CREATIVE DIRECTION
2018–2024
Holiday party season is one of the most commercially important booking periods for Lucky Strike Entertainment, formerly Bowlero Corp.
Working alongside the VP of Creative across three major company-wide campaigns, I served as the day-to-day creative lead across concept development, production planning, on-set direction, hero asset creation and campaign rollout, first as Art Director and later as Creative Director.
ROLE
Art Director → Creative Director
SCOPE
Concept development, production planning, on-set art direction, hero asset creation and campaign rollout
COLLABORATORS
VP of Creative, internal designers and external production partners
CAMPAIGN
Company-wide rollout across video, digital, social, email and in-location media
2018 Bowlero Holiday Poster
2022 Bowlero Holiday Poster
2024 Lucky Strike Holiday Poster
2018
Bringing Creative Direction In-House
In 2018, our in-house creative team took ownership of the holiday campaign’s creative direction for the first time, while an agency supported casting and production. As Art Director, I helped shape the concept, participated in casting and provided art direction during the fast-moving one-day shoot.
The campaign marked our shift toward a digital- and social-first approach. Celebratory group photography, saturated color and plenty of glitter captured the energetic, upscale atmosphere of the locations.
The video shown here was created for a short-lived interactive Facebook ad format, using movement and interactivity to highlight the full holiday party experience.
2022
Getting Out From Behind The Screens
In 2022, holiday parties finally felt like a real option again after years of remote work. Partnering with the VP of Creative, I helped develop a concept centered on getting out from behind our screens and reconnecting in person.
As Creative Director, I built the storyboard and shot-list deck, found and vetted a new photographer, and worked with a videographer and production crew we knew well. Together, we planned an ambitious two-day shoot covering bowling, arcade games, food, drinks and the energy of celebrating as a group.
The deceptively difficult part was translating the atmosphere of the locations on camera. Although the spaces are dark, their neon colors feel vibrant in person. We worked to preserve that energy while keeping the photography and video bright, polished and flexible enough to use across the campaign.
Offer-driven email creative extended the campaign through the booking window, using targeted incentives to turn interest into party reservations.
Campaign graphics brought the holiday message into the locations, promoting limited-time offers and directing guests to book online or speak with a party planner.
I built the storyboard and shot-list deck to align the crew, prioritize must-have content and keep the aggressive two-day shoot moving.
2024
A More Elevated Holiday
In 2024, Lucky Strike was becoming the company’s lead brand, bringing with it a more elevated, retro-nightclub direction. Partnering with the VP of Creative, I helped translate that shift into a holiday campaign that felt polished and celebratory while still working across the full portfolio of brands.
We brought back the same video crew from 2022 for another fast-paced two-day shoot. This time, we intentionally built the color and lighting into the production, pairing formal wardrobe with warm tones, red foil, gold accents and a more cinematic nightlife feel. It was an evolution of the glitter-heavy holiday language we had used before, but with a stronger sense of style.
After the shoot, I worked hands-on to develop the hero poster and video assets, then helped guide the campaign across email, paid social, print and other placements.
A series of promotional emails carried the campaign through the booking season, adapting the visual system to different offers, party packages and calls to action.
Paid social variations balanced aspirational campaign photography with direct promotional messaging, creating a flexible system for different audiences and offers.
In-location print brought the campaign into the guest experience, highlighting the full party offering and providing a direct path to book online or contact a party planner.
These selects show how the art direction extended from formal group portraits to bowling action, food and cocktail details. Consistent lighting, warm color and red foil styling created a flexible image library that carried Lucky Strike’s elevated, retro-nightclub direction across the campaign.
Across these campaigns, the visual direction changed with the brand and the moment, but the challenge remained consistent: build a flexible creative system, capture enough usable content during fast-moving productions and keep the work cohesive across every channel. My role grew from helping bring creative direction in-house to leading the day-to-day production and rollout, while remaining hands-on in the work.