Randy Nargi, freelance ad guy + commercial director
albuquerque, new mexico
hello. I have over 20 years of marketing and advertising experience, in a wide range of industries -- both on the agency side and the client side. I am also an award-winning independent film director who has created feature films, TV pilots, commercials, and online videos.
agency career: I began my career in New York, working as a creative copywriter for two large ad agencies: D'Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles and Saatchi & Saatchi. My clients included a number of Procter & Gamble brands (Crest toothpaste, Pampers, Tide, etc.) and General Mills brands (Trix, Count Chocula, etc.).
In 1990, I was recruited to Seattle's largest ad agency EvansGroup (now Publicis), where I headed up the creative and strategic teams for a number of fast-paced regional and national retail accounts, including Bank of America/Seafirst Bank, Eagle Hardware (now Lowe's), Ben Bridge Jeweler, Red Robin, Tree Top juices, and many more. I provided creative leadership for several successful new business efforts, including the Washington State Lottery ($6.5MM) and the NW Ford Dealers Association ($10MM).
My work has been recognized by industry publications such as ADWEEK and has won numerous awards, including ADDY, International Advertising Festival, and Telly.
client side: 
In 1998, I was brought on as one of the founding executives of Mercata, Paul Allen's initial venture into e-commerce. I was part of the small team that developed the business model and, as VP of Marketing, was responsible for creating the Mercata brand from scratch and building it from zero awareness to one of the top online shopping destinations within 12 months. I managed a marketing budget of US$36MM.
After Mercata, I joined Classmates.com, a company that wanted to expand beyond its initial business as a high school reunion site. As VP of Marketing, I worked to expand the business model and introduce new products and services which helped the company increase revenue 94% within a year and achieve net income profitability for the first time.
Senior management at Drugstore.com engaged me as a consultant to help them improve customer experience, site conversion, and customer retention. Impressed by the results I achieved, they brought me on full time. The CEO asked me to head up marketing (which he called Acquisition & Retention). By implementing ROI-based marketing programs, I was able to increase site conversion and reduce new customer acquisition costs by 36%.
now: I am currently consulting full-time. Recent projects have included Sharp Copiers/Japan, Earthbound Farms organic produce, Gardenburger, c4 Advertising, UtilX Corporation, Procard Systems, Egg Advertising, Aviva Water, E&M Gold Honey, Mike Scarff Subaru, Healia.com/Meredith Corporation, Lone Mountain Roofing, CRM Group, Southwest Windpower, and Universal Water Group.