Lifecycle Marketing Design - Email & In-App
As the sole product designer managing all email and in-app design for a global anime and manga platform, I turned lifecycle marketing into a brand experience — across 5 channels, 2 product lines, and millions of subscribers.
My Role
Sole Product Designer
Channels
Email, Push, In-App, WhatsApp, Content Cards
Products
Crunchyroll Streaming + Manga App Launch
8.3%
Membership restart rate from Gift of Time win-back campaign
5
Channels scaled across for Gift of Time — push, email, WhatsApp, content cards, in-app
Solo
Only product designer on the account after a 2-week transition
The Context
Taking full ownership after two weeks
Telus Digital had been working with Crunchyroll for 3.5 years when I was allocated to the account in August 2025. I spent two weeks shadowing the previous designer — learning the brand, the systems, the stakeholder relationships, and the rhythm of the work.
After that transition, I owned everything. Every email, every in-app message, every push notification. The decisions, the designs, the handoffs, and the stakeholder presentations were mine to manage from day one.
What follows is the work I delivered: five distinct campaigns and product launches, each requiring me to think strategically about user behavior, design for the Crunchyroll brand, and create systems that could scale beyond any individual project.
Campaign 01
Watchlist Promotion
Crunchyroll had a Watchlist feature that users weren't engaging with. My first assignment was to design a lifecycle campaign strategy that would change that — across the user lifecycle, not just in one email.
Working with the Telus Digital team, I mapped 13 potential use cases. I then helped narrow those down to 4 based on business impact and technical feasibility. Then I designed all of them.
The Scalable Addition
Beyond the lifecycle campaign, I designed an "Add to Watchlist" button system for any marketing message — coming soon emails, weekly sends, new releases. I created two versions: a Crawl version that links to the series page (ready to launch now), and a Run version for one-click direct-add from email (awaiting deep link implementation). This made Watchlist promotion scalable across every campaign, not just this one.
Campaign 02
Gift of Time — 8.3% membership restart rate
When users cancelled their subscriptions, Crunchyroll needed a reason to bring them back. The strategy: offer 14 free days immediately post-cancellation — but they'd have to reactivate to claim it. I designed the entire campaign.
I designed every asset, adapted for every channel — maintaining brand consistency while honoring the distinct format constraints of each medium. This was also my first opportunity to work with Crunchyroll glyphs: unique visual brand elements that I used strategically to reinforce the time-limited urgency of the offer.
8.3%
Membership restart rate
Users who had cancelled came back and reactivated their memberships after receiving the campaign across all five channels.
Campaign 03 & 04
Crunchyroll Manga App
Crunchyroll launched a new Manga app — a separate product with its own brand guidelines, visual language, and distinct identity. My job was to introduce existing Crunchyroll users to this product and drive engagement from day one.
Manga has its own visual textures, color treatments, and design elements that needed to feel connected to Crunchyroll without being identical. I had to interpret two brand systems and design between them.
Manga Monday — Weekly Email System
Crunchyroll needed weekly manga emails with different content every time — but didn't want to design and code a new email from scratch each week. I designed a modular email template system where modules can be mixed, matched, and rearranged each week with no new development required.
Manga Genre Survey — Personalization Engine
A four-step personalization flow that collected user genre preferences and immediately returned value: a push notification, an in-app genre survey, instant curated reading recommendations, and a personalized follow-up email. Users stated their preferences and got tailored content — immediately and ongoing.
Skills Demonstrated
Lifecycle Marketing Design, Email Design Systems, In-App Message Design, Push Notification Design, Brand System Interpretation, Campaign Strategy, Use Case Prioritization, Multi-Channel Adaptation, Modular Template Design, Stakeholder Management, WhatsApp Marketing, Personalization Flows