Featured Case Studies

Macdonald’s Prescriptions: Telling the story of a pharmacy unlike any other

Turning 100 years of history into a living story

Brand Storytelling · Interviews · Social Media · Video · Advertising · Community Engagement

Macdonald's Prescriptions has spent a century building an unusual reputation: a family-owned community pharmacy known not only for caring deeply for its patients, but for taking on complex healthcare needs, supporting specialized patient communities, and cultivating generations of exceptional pharmacists.

My goal has been to translate that reputation, and the people behind it, for the broader public.

I began by interviewing CEO Michelle Zuccaro and her father, longtime owner Vince Zuccaro, using their memories and archival material to create the “99 Years of Macdonald's” campaign. Their stories became a way into the pharmacy's history, values and evolution, setting the stage for a year-long centennial campaign celebrating 100 years of care.

That same storytelling approach extends to Macdonald's role in the community. Through interviews, research and collaboration with staff and partner organizations, such as PALS Autism School and the Food Allergy Immunotherapy Program, I've created accessible stories around everything from pharmacists' evolving role in patient care to food allergy immunotherapy, autism, ostomy and lymphedema, using social content to connect specialized healthcare knowledge with the people who can benefit from it.

Across these stories, I've combined organic content, video, design and paid campaigns to grow Macdonald's audience while giving a century-old organization a contemporary, distinctly human voice.

A recent integrated organic + paid campaign reached 39.5K Instagram accounts in four weeks, with more than 99% of reach coming from outside the existing follower base.

Impact

277K

Facebook views

124K

Instagram views

BodyComp Imaging: Building a storytelling engine around longevity

Turning complex health science into stories people can use

Content Strategy · Research · Interviews · Video · Social Media · Paid Advertising · Analytics

Body composition, bone density and longevity are complex subjects—and simply telling people to “get a DEXA scan” doesn't explain why any of it matters. At BodyComp Imaging, I led the organic social strategy and paid social advertising, with the goal of turning the company's clinical expertise into useful, engaging stories about health and longevity.

I began by working with Bodycomp to interview physicians, practitioners, athletes, and patients: maximizing on opportunities with notable clients, and translating their expertise and experiences into accessible short-form content.

Over time, I developed this into a repeatable storytelling process: identifying the most leading edge and relevant topics in health and longevity science today; researching the science behind them, interviewing the Bodycomp technologists on their trade knowledge of it, and developing scripts for them to present as specialized longevity health science stories on camera.

The approach helped turn the Bodycomp staff into recognizable local voices and leaders in the longevity science field, while creating a scalable pipeline of content across Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and paid media. Stories ranged from the role of lean mass and visceral fat in long-term health to professional sport, performance and partnerships; always connecting the science and stories back to what a DEXA scan could help someone understand about their own body, and its critical role in helping guide measurable results in each one of these examples.

Impact

+4,345%

Paid-social website sessions
vs. an equal-length period before my tenure, measured in Google Analytics

+301%

Organic-social website sessions
vs. the preceding equivalent period

*These gains were achieved against an established marketing baseline, with BodyComp having worked with an external social media agency prior to my tenure.

Canadian Men's Health Foundation

Making men's health impossible to ignore

Creative Direction · Digital Storytelling · Social Media · Campaigns · Video · UX & Experimentation

Men's health isn't always an easy subject to get people talking about. During my time with the Canadian Men's Health Foundation, my role spanned social media, digital campaigns, video, design and interactive storytelling—all with the goal of turning complex or easily overlooked health issues into content people would actually stop and engage with.

I developed a cohesive social storytelling approach combining original creative, video, staff-led grassroots content and larger national campaigns. Rather than relying solely on institutional health messaging, I brought staff and community members directly into the storytelling—using challenges, humour, exercise and everyday experiences to make the organization and its mission feel more human.

That work expanded into major initiatives including Canadian Men's Health Week and Men's Health Month, where I transformed research, expert insights and content from notable Canadians into accessible visual and video stories. For Men's Health Month 2021, I produced and edited campaign content featuring figures including Trevor Linden, Kevin Bieksa, Buzz Bishop, Farhan Lalji and fitness coach Tommy Europe.

I also worked with then-president Wayne Hartrick to transform a dense collection of men's-health research, statistics and organizational information into an interactive stakeholder and fundraising presentation. The project was recognized with the 2019 Prezi Award for Best Non-Profit Presentation.

Alongside creative production, I used user-flow analysis, user testing, data analysis and A/B testing to understand how audiences moved through digital campaigns and continually refine the work.

“Matthew's outstanding talent, dedication, consistently positive and enthusiastic attitude made him an important part of the team.”
— Wayne Hartrick, Past President, Canadian Men's Health Foundation

Impact

+298%
Social media engagement
recorded at an internal performance review during my tenure

2019 Prezi Award
Best Non-Profit Presentation

National Campaigns:
Men's Health Week · Men's Health Month