Hassan S. Ali

Creative Director focused on business impact and building teams Chicago, IL

“It’s funny how a chubby kid can just be having fun, and people call it entertainment.” -Garth Brooks



Hello Internet! My name's Hassan. I live at the intersection of creativity, brand, tech, and revenue generation.

I most recently served as Senior Director of Brand and Communications at Hootsuite.

Previous lives: Creative Director at Kraft Heinz, Brand Creative Director at Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Creative Marketing Director of Onion, Inc. and lead creative at its in-house agency, Onion Labs.

Three more quick facts:

  • Early adopter of AI and chatbots. Here are two early chatbots I made in 2015: Botline Bling, Boy Bye Bot.

  • Editor and founding member of Slackjaw, the finest humor publication on Medium.

  • Was named a "50 On Fire" by Chicago Inno for my work infusing comedy into tech.

Some stats:
• $19m in revenue driven from brand, creative and content campaigns I've led
• Led teams of 3-25, including director-level people managers rolling up to me
• Oversaw $2m creative production, agency, and freelance budget

Find me here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/hassan-s-ali/4/96b/67a

Education

University of Chicago

BA, Economics

2003 – 2007 • Chicago, IL

Awards

2018

Webby Award Nomination, Webby Awards (For Ace Hardware)

2018

Best Content Studio, Digiday (Awarded to Onion Labs) [link]

2017

Finalist, Digiday Video Award, Digiday

2016

50 on Fire, Chicago Inno [link]

2016

Addy Award, Chicago Advertising Federation (For “Dr. Jimm” campaign with Intel)

2016

Digiday Content Marketing Award, Digiday (Finalist for “Dr. Jimm” campaign)

2015

Addy Award (1 Gold, 3 Bronze), Chicago Advertising Federation (Awarded for work on Quaker Oats.)

2015

Effie Award, Effie Awards (Effie Award for work on Pearle Vision)

Clients

Intel Quaker Wrigley Progressive Insurance Trugreen Clorox Simmons Beautyrest Tito's Handmade Vodka The Onion Pearle Vision K9 Advantix II eBay Allegra Scotts 7-Eleven Sony Pictures YUP! / Fairlife Wild Turkey American Honey Barbasol Hootsuite Potbelly Sandwich Shop State Farm

Specialties

branded content copywriting photoshop comedy humor social media mobile content YouTube video Vine TV .gifs

Elsewhere