Amanda C. Peterson, a writer of copy and lover of strategy Purpose in life: I make people fall in love with brands using ideas and words. I'm ready to win pitches, woo clients, develop strategies, generate ideas, write copy, name things, guide teams, sell stuff, make my boss look brilliant and have fun doing it. I'm best put to work where strategy and creative execution are difficult to pull apart and when clients need the reassurance that the creative team "gets it." I would rather be part of a marketing SWAT team than be the Ernest Hemingway of the ad world. --- Some of the experience I have doing it: Logitech, Inc. - Fremont, CA Senior Manager, Writing and Naming, Global Marketing August 2008 to right now - Lead the team developing all packaging and web copy, product naming, brand architecture and product documentation - Oversaw the complete rewrite of Logitech.com, with more than 100 product pages - Trained hundreds of employees and vendors on the Logitech brand voice - Head up a seven-person team, with help from a few freelancers Landor Associates - San Francisco, CA Senior Manager, Naming and Writing October 2003 to February 2007; August 2007 to August 2008 - Created product names, nomenclature systems, brand voice strategies, brand positioning and copywriting for products, companies, mergers and more - Led naming and writing projects, with direct client relationships from pitch to wrap up - Served as area expert in technology, hospitality and gaming - Worked with some of the biggest brands in the world, including Energizer, Boost Mobile, Microsoft, Adobe, Motorola, Samsung, Frito-Lay, FedEx, Coors, Pepsico, Hilton, J. Jill, Medtronic, Dole, EarthLink, Texas Instruments, WellPoint and NetApp Real Branding - San Francisco, CA Associate Creative Director, Copywriter February 2007 to August 2007 - Created concepts and award-winning copy for websites, banner ads, viral videos and everything else remotely related to "the digital space" - Built up and managed the agency's writing practice - Supported new business efforts with concepts and pitching Worked with clients including Bass Ale, Unilever, SOAPnet, Lipton Tea, ESPN.com, Smirnoff Raw Tea and Red Lobster Academy of Art University - San Francisco, CA Instructor, Advertising Fall 2002 to December 2005 - Developed teaching materials, led ad critiques and stood in front of undergrad and grad students for 3 hours at a time and still managed to have one of the highest teacher evaluation scores in the department for multiple years running - Taught a variety of night classes, including Copywriting 2, Advanced Copywriting Brand and Branding and Creative Workshop - Acted as a thesis advisor to graduate students (who cumulatively managed to win every major student ad award) Target Corp. - Mervyn's - Hayward, CA Copywriter, Brand Loyalty, Creative, Marketing October 2002 to October 2003 - Created ads and collateral with my art director partner, including an award-winning campaign of over 100 outdoor and newspaper ads in two months - Named and worked with design to create brands for in-house merchandise - Led a department restructure to allow creative partnerships, team independence and a more agency-like setting - Created a brand positioning and brand personality kit - Managed design and ad agencies and got to be the person not laughing on the other side of the conference call for a change Ad-Lib Creative - San Francisco, California Copywriter and strategist, Creative Department September 2000 to September 2002 - Created advertising and brand strategy for clients including: Kimpton Group hotels and restaurants, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kendall-Jackson, Cordevalle Resort, Argent Hotel, Bronco Wines, Hotel Council of San Francisco, Wells Fargo, Sun Microsystems and Peoplesoft - Served as an area expert in technology --- The formal education you may or may not care about: Academy of Art College - San Francisco, CA Master of Fine Arts in Advertising Design - September 2000 - GPA - 3.8 - Focus in copywriting and planning University of Illinois - Champaign-Urbana, IL Bachelor of Science in Advertising - August 1997 - GPA - 3.6 - Focus on strategy, research and integrated marketing communications --- The other random bits of information: - I've won a retail and newspaper awards for my Mervyn's work, local Addys for web work at Real Branding, my work on Hilton Hhonors got them in Ad Week's Top 20 Brands and Conde Nast Traveler called a hotel door hanger I created for the Hotel Helix in DC "worth stealing." - I've been pursuing a career in advertising since seventh grade when I decided I was unwilling to choose whether I enjoyed drawing or writing more and saw the industry as an opportunity to come up with ideas for both - My interests can be summed up as “everything geeky” – cult movies, video games, board games and comic books - I pride myself in knowing a little about everything -- whether tequila, ancient mythology or virtualization servers -- and that makes marketing a perfect fit for my trivia-based brain. --- Some of the ways you can reach me: portfolio: http://amanda.guck.net email: amanda@guck.net mobile phone: 650 248 8223 linkedin™: linkedin.com/in/gucky snail mail: 164 Howth St., San Francisco, CA 94112, USA blood type: O+ references: available if you ask nicely