Ryan Micklos

Program Director
Project Manager, Digital Content Production

I lead cross-functional teams that turn big ideas into digital products, campaigns and experiences. More than twenty years across advertising and product.

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Ryan Micklos smiling in dark-framed glasses and a cardigan

Selected work

Pick a project to read the story behind it.

Pleasure to meet you. I’m Ryan.

I’m a spirited digital professional with a creative and product focus and more than 20 years of experience delivering digital experiences, products, campaigns and experiential work for major brands and global agencies. Whether I’m bringing new products to market, creating best-in-class web experiences or delving into new tech, my natural habitat is leading talented, cross-functional teams, translating business objectives into actionable programs and guiding the work from strategy and scoping through launch.

I love making amazing work that achieves clients’ business goals and caters to the end-user experience, with an iterative approach to workflow and process, all while fostering a positive and inclusive working environment. I’ve done it at Havas CX, Code and Theory, GSD&M, The Martin Agency and Juice Pharma, managing businesses in the $1M–$3M+ range.

  • 20+ yearsin digital production and project management
  • 3 FWA awardsfor sites I produced
  • CSPOCertified Scrum Product Owner

Core expertise

Program & Project Leadership

  • Digital Program Management
  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Agile & Waterfall
  • Roadmaps
  • Resource Planning
  • Process Optimization

Business & Client Leadership

  • Client Management
  • Scoping & Estimation
  • Budget Management
  • SOWs & Proposals
  • Forecasting
  • Business Development

Digital Experience

  • Digital Products
  • UX & Interaction
  • Content Strategy
  • Creative Development
  • Experiential
  • Accessibility

Tools

  • JIRA
  • Confluence
  • Figma
  • Miro
  • Adobe Creative Cloud
  • HTML/CSS
  • CSPO Certified
  • Smartsheet
  • Monday
  • ClickUp
  • MS Teams

Havas CX

Program Director

New York, NY / Remote
March 2023 to October 2026

  • Directed end-to-end delivery of digital programs for American Airlines, Citi, House of Suntory, JBL and Wells Fargo, leading 20+ cross-functional team members and serving as delivery lead for 20+ day-to-day client stakeholders.
  • Led the rebuild of the American Airlines co-brand credit card website, covering product detail pages for prospects and existing cardmembers plus the family-of-cards page. Results: conversion up as much as 19% on key pages, bounce rate down 28%, and log-ins doubled.
  • Delivered 100% of work on time and on budget across monthly releases and up to 6 site optimizations per year.
  • Scoped and structured digital initiatives around business objectives, defining resource requirements, team allocations, budgets, timelines and delivery plans.
  • Managed external partners (WP Engine hosting, a partner creative agency, a partner SEO agency and production vendors), coordinating scope, timelines and handoffs with internal teams.
  • Closely partnered with clients to translate business needs into clear, actionable briefs for cross-functional briefings that align strategy, creative, technology and delivery teams.
  • Developed proposals, statements of work, project plans, timelines and cost estimates for digital brand initiatives.
  • Managed and tracked financial performance across annual retainers and ad hoc engagements, including forecasting, budget alignment and ongoing financial health.
  • Identified opportunities for incremental organic growth and developed strategies to expand account relationships and digital engagements.
  • Delivered monthly and quarterly account health reporting to executive leadership, highlighting progress, risks, opportunities and recommended actions.

Code and Theory

Sr. Producer, Product

New York, NY
October 2021 to January 2023

  • Served as primary client contact and project lead for cross-functional teams delivering $1M–$2M in product MVPs and subsequent iterative releases for Allspring Financial, Citadel and Marriott Bonvoy.
  • Led product delivery from scoping and estimation through development, launch and subsequent releases, balancing business objectives, user needs, resources and timelines.
  • Optimized team allocations and delivery plans to maintain on-time, on-budget execution.
  • Identified organic growth opportunities and developed proposals to expand client engagements.
  • Provided agency leadership with account status, risk assessments, mitigation strategies and delivery forecasts.

GSD&M

Sr. Digital & Experiential Producer

Austin, TX
November 2016 to September 2021

  • Led digital and experiential production across major agency accounts including Capital One, Southwest Airlines, U.S. Air Force, Popeyes, Diageo and Pizza Hut.
  • Managed cross-functional teams and external partners across complex digital and experiential initiatives from concept through launch.
  • Selected and managed third-party vendors and media partners, establishing effective collaboration and accountability across project teams.
  • Developed and optimized production workflows to improve team productivity, collaboration and quality of output.

The Martin Agency

Digital Producer

Richmond, VA
May 2012 to November 2016

  • Produced digital experiences and campaigns for clients including Microsoft, JFK Library, Geico, Stoli and Midas.
  • Scoped and estimated projects while partnering with creative, technology and account teams to guide work from concept through launch.
  • Transitioned from Senior Project Manager overseeing integrated campaigns across broadcast and print into a digital experience-focused production role.
  • Trained new hires on agency processes and workflows and improved onboarding materials to accelerate team integration.

Juice Pharma

Sr. Interactive Project Manager

New York, NY
February 2011 to May 2012

  • Managed digital initiatives for Merck pharmaceutical brands, coordinating cross-functional teams and project delivery.
  • Navigated complex legal and regulatory review processes while maintaining project timelines, budgets and delivery requirements.

Easy Purl

Account Executive

Brooklyn, NY
2010 to 2011

  • Led SaaS tool capability pitches as part of new business acquisition efforts and directed projects for existing accounts.
  • Managed client budgets, conducted client status reports and worked with the internal team to ensure timely execution of campaigns.
  • Orchestrated trade show efforts and in-person software demonstrations.

Donovan Data Systems

Production Manager

New York, NY
2007 to 2009

  • Managed digital and print projects for Corporate Communications, including websites, HTML emails, interactive modules and product briefs, through their life cycle.
  • Ensured continuity on global projects by stewarding a strong relationship with our UK sister team.
  • Worked closely with production vendors on all outsourced project deliverables.
  • Revitalized the company’s trade show experience by updating exhibit equipment, design and collateral.

Capitol Exhibit Services

Art Production Manager

Manassas, VA
2006 to 2007

  • Produced large-format print projects for museums and the trade show industry for clients including NASA, the Smithsonian Institution, Northrop Grumman and Heckler & Koch.
  • Liaised between account teams and the fabrication department to ensure multi-faceted productions met specifications and were executed on time.
  • Assisted with onsite client service and installation of exhibit materials.

Education

University of Central Florida

Bachelor of Arts, Internet & Interactive Systems

Orlando, FL, 2001 to 2005

Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)

Accolades

  • FWA Site of the MonthMarch 2021USAF “Into the Storm” interactive documentary
  • FWA Site of the DayMarch 27, 2021Pizza Hut Web AR Pac-Man box
  • Austin Big Wigs 2020Best Digital Producer nominee
  • Best in Show, ATX Addy · Silver, National Addy2019Popeyes “Crave-Off” experiential
  • FWA Site of the DayJanuary 22, 2014JFK “An Idea Lives On”

Reach out.

I look forward to connecting.

rmicklos@gmail.com

LinkedIn

American Airlines Loyalty + Citi Cobrand

Havas CXLoyalty and cobrand

The AAdvantage digital experience needed modernization. The site had not been redesigned in more than a decade, and dense content, jargon, exceptions and qualifiers made a complex loyalty program difficult for customers to navigate.

The redesign refocused the experience around customer needs and made program information easier to understand. We built a data-informed design system around three principles: clear, modern and intuitive. The work also included a refreshed photography library and illustrations that help customers imagine their next trip.

The updated site gives members and prospective members a more streamlined experience, and the design system has become a standard for American Airlines’ broader digital ecosystem. I also led the rebuild of the American Airlines co-brand credit card site with Citi, covering product detail pages for prospects and existing cardmembers plus the family-of-cards page.

  • 7Customizable page templates for easy content creation and management
  • 50+Modular components
  • -60%Reduction in unneeded content
  • 115M+Global users
AAdvantage program page shown on a laptop with the headline Get rewarded more often
Three phones showing the AAdvantage mobile site
AAdvantage Status and Rewards Estimator on a phone
Next projectBrooklyn Film Festival

Brooklyn Film Festival

Havas CXAI film discovery

The festival needed to stand out in New York City’s crowded cultural landscape while drawing attention to its archive of independent films and encouraging ticket sales.

Havas CX and Havas Creative built an integrated campaign around one idea: art can inspire film discovery. The interactive web experience uses generative AI to analyze an artwork and recommend a related film from the festival archive. Film clips play in animated, sculptural frames, the interface explains the thematic connection, and a clear route leads to ticket purchase.

The experience was designed to lift engagement and ticket sales while giving the festival’s filmmakers a lasting digital home.

  • 79%of bff.org site traffic came through the mobile experience
  • 34%of users clicked through to buy tickets
  • 86%engagement rate
Make It Movie on a phone beside an outdoor billboard of Starry Night frames
Brooklyn Film Festival visual elements: type, color, gradients and frames
Next projectThe House of Suntory

The House of Suntory

Havas CXBrand site and membership

The House of Suntory needed to bring more than 30 products under one masterbrand without losing each product’s identity or the spirit of Japanese hospitality. We started by redesigning the website and building a unified design system, then set out to grow membership by engaging the brand’s fans.

The approach centered on connection, craft and culture. A clear narrative guided the redesign, a new CRM recognized fans and turned interest into membership, and a stories format widened how the brand speaks. Personalization rules and defined customer journeys linked product discovery to deeper engagement, with measurement tying content to outcomes.

The result is one coherent presence for a house of brands, built to grow as new products are added.

  • 50kmembership sign ups in a year
  • 18%average increase in onboarding open rate
  • 22%average increase in onboarding click rate
  • 30+products
  • 10brands
  • 1unified design system
Three phones showing a Toki sour recipe, the Hibiki welcome screen and the Yamazaki story
Two phones showing the Spirit of Japan hero and the Hibiki product carousel
Hibiki 40 Years Old product page on a laptop
Every sip is a taste of tradition and innovation, shown on a phone
Next projectPizza Hut Pac-Man Arcade

Pizza Hut Pac-Man Arcade

GSD&MWeb AR

  • FWA Site of the Day, March 27, 2021

How do you get people to play with their food before they eat it? Turn the pizza box into an arcade.

For Pizza Hut’s Pac-Man Arcade, we built a web-based augmented reality experience that brings the classic game to life on the box itself. Point a phone at the lid and the cardboard becomes a playable Pac-Man maze, complete with the ghosts, right there on the table next to the pizza. It runs in the mobile browser, so there is nothing to download between you and the first dot.

I produced the project, keeping design, development and brand partners aligned from concept through launch, and balancing a playful, nostalgic idea with the real-world demands of a web AR build that had to work on whatever phone was in someone’s hand.

The result is a mash-up of pizza night and game night, and a Site of the Day win from FWA on March 27, 2021.

Next projectAirforce.com

Airforce.com

GSD&MProduct and production

  • Cannes award-winning site

In managing the Cannes award-winning Airforce.com, I used production and product management skill sets together to keep this integral recruitment lead funnel running at peak performance. I oversaw everything from hosting architecture, third-party partnerships and PII data management to creating and optimizing content and UX, and I played a key role in making sure this personalized web experience exceeded recruitment goals each year.

Leading cross-functional teams of strategists, data analysts and creatives, I worked to develop results-driven creative and a clear user path to enlistment. I worked directly with Air Force leadership and technical partners to handle user data appropriately, deliver an individually tailored site experience, and keep online communication tools such as live chat, find-a-recruiter and a career interest navigator survey (AF-WIN) running at peak performance.

Stewarding bespoke campaigns for Special Operations, Ask An Airman and the Air Force women pilots’ “Origin Story” (in conjunction with the blockbuster Captain Marvel) allowed for new engaging content and UX optimizations. Combined with multivariate testing, they kept the site fresh and drove applications.

Next projectPopeyes Crave-Off

Popeyes Crave-Off

GSD&MExperiential

  • 10MM people reached
  • 42.5MM impressions
  • Best in Show, ATX Addy
  • Silver, National Addy (2019)

How do you shake people out of their fast-food slump? With levitating Popeyes chicken and a mental tug-of-war, obviously.

We developed a custom table to float the $5 Big Box Combo and set two contenders, wearing brainwave-monitoring EEG headsets, against each other in a cerebral competition to see who craved Popeyes more. The one with the most craving would bring the hovering food toward themselves and enjoy victory. And it really worked!

We complemented the experience with a mobile game that connected users in real time for their own tug-of-war challenge. The project was part experiential, part interactive, part content capture, and all innovative fun.

Then we set it all loose with exciting display creative and social, reaching over 10MM people and earning 42.5MM impressions.

With Crave-Off we were able to scientifically quantify the love for Popeyes chicken.

Next projectStoli Vodka

Stoli Vodka

The Martin AgencyCampaign and web

When THE Vodka knocks on your agency’s door, you don’t give them a creative campaign. You develop THE creative campaign. We brought Stoli back to THE top with an elegant new look, dynamic digital ad executions and clever animations that show that real drinkers don’t settle for less than THE Vodka.

We overhauled Stoli.com to provide the optimal user experience and even partnered with Playboy to develop a suite of online cocktail videos hosted by none other than Playboy’s Miss May 2010, Kassie Lyn Logsdon.

Stoli.com on a tablet with the headline The benchmark for vodka
Next projectJFK Library: An Idea Lives On

JFK Library: An Idea Lives On

The Martin AgencyInteractive site

  • FWA Site of the Day, Jan 22, 2014
  • Visitors from 200+ countries in week one

Awarded FWA Site of the Day (1/22/14), An Idea Lives On immortalizes the legacy of President John F. Kennedy through intimate interviews, arresting stories and thoughtful art from some of today’s most prominent figures, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Conan O’Brien, astronaut Chris Cassidy and Madeleine Albright, just to name a few.

The site was widely featured on popular television and online news publications, and in its first week it garnered visitors from over 200 countries.

An Idea Lives On title screen over a halftone collage of John F. Kennedy
JFK Library site on a desktop monitor showing the education chapter
Grid of video thumbnails of interviews and illustrated quotes
Grid of interview stills from the site’s contributors
Next projectMicrosoft Cloud

Microsoft Cloud

The Martin Agency360° campaign

Microsoft came to us to launch a 360° campaign for its Microsoft Cloud service, demonstrating its power through use cases with partners such as AccuWeather, Real Madrid and Special Olympics. Our team developed the mosaic concept that housed these partner stories, and it was applied to full digital ad campaigns, experiential work and a redesign of the consumer website.

For the Real Madrid work, we created a 3D stadium experience that let users explore the virtual environment and learn how the Microsoft Cloud supported every aspect of the professional soccer club. It lived in various online advertising as well as interactive video displays in airports.

Next projectGeico Mobile App

Geico Mobile App

The Martin AgencyMobile app UX

When an app lives in the pockets of millions of customers, every tap counts.

For the GEICO Mobile app, I worked in an agile process alongside GEICO’s design and development teams to keep improving the interface and the experience. Work moved in short, focused iterations: a prioritized backlog of improvements, stories shaped and estimated with the people who would build them, regular check-ins to review progress, and a steady rhythm of releases.

As producer, I kept the teams in sync and the sprints on track. I translated business goals and customer feedback into clear, prioritized work, cleared blockers early, and balanced scope, timing and quality so design and development could move quickly without losing sight of the user.

The result was a continuous cycle of UI and UX refinements that made everyday insurance tasks simpler and more intuitive for customers on the go.

GEICO Mobile app screens: the home screen with ID cards, roadside help and bill pay, the policy list, and the quote and start-your-policy screen
Next projectMidas

Midas

The Martin AgencyBrand and mobile

  • Sales up 59 consecutive weeks

The Midas touch was becoming a bit, well, tarnished. The automotive service company needed to get back on the map and show the world that they are the leaders in Total Car Care. We tapped the newly created Midas Hand and his optimistic, witty persona to make sure that drivers everywhere knew that Midas does much more than just change oil.

We launched hilarious brand spots and a vigorous digital campaign, complete with successful geo-targeted mobile advertisements based on weather conditions and proximity to the nearest Midas store. This work increased overall sales for 59 consecutive weeks and counting.

Next projectStraight Talk Wireless

Straight Talk Wireless

Broadcast and digital video

It’s easy to get lost in the complexities of mobile phone providers. We helped Straight Talk put a quick end to that by creating broadcast and digital video campaigns that cut to the chase and clearly explained to consumers just how they can get the best 4G LTE service on the latest phones, all at half the cost.

The work may have been informative, but that didn’t keep viewers from bursting with laughter at the off-kilter humor. This side-splitting work is a testament to a scrappy team producing the most effective content possible on a strict budget.

Next projectStroz Friedberg

Stroz Friedberg

Rebrand and print

We embarked on a truly transformative rebranding for the digital forensics and cyber crime investigation firm Stroz Friedberg. The brand’s identity evolved from the legal sea of sameness into a striking visual force that helps tell the story of how Stroz Friedberg “seeks truth” in the ever-changing, and often dangerous, digital landscape.

An impactful and suggestive print campaign was born from this powerful rebranding. This gorgeous work serves as a warning to the business world that some things may not be quite what they seem.

Print ad of a modern tower dissolving into ancient ruins in a tile mosaic
Stroz Friedberg stationery and business cards with a faceted color pattern
Next projectCool Whip

Cool Whip

Digital video

Cool Whip has a knack for making everything a little more fun, so we gave it a jingle. Four of them, actually.

The Cool Whip Jingles series is a set of short digital videos, each built around its own character: a Toddler, FurryPants, a Dentist and a Scarecrow. Every spot pairs a bite-sized story with a catchy, singable hook, made to be watched, shared and hummed long after the tub is back in the freezer.

I produced the series, taking the spots from concept and music through edit and delivery for digital channels.

Tub of Cool Whip frosting on a purple ribbon
Next projectNorwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line

Broadcast, print and out-of-home

When Norwegian Cruise Line launches a new ship, they like to go big. As big as their ships! We delivered a full campaign of broadcast spots, monthly print work, radio ads and out-of-home for NYC’s Chelsea Piers.

This luxurious work invited the world to come aboard, kick back, and cruise like a Norwegian.

Print ad: Norwegians cruise to find a piece of haven
Print ad: Norwegians are free to take detours
Billboard of the Norwegian Breakaway at Chelsea Piers
Next projectAmerican Airlines Loyalty + Citi Cobrand