Vanessa Pierce
Creative + Brand Strategy
"Writer's flow is like fly fishing. It's hard to get into your space. It can be brutally frustrating. But once you get into the flow of mastering the moment—focusing on one task at a time—you will land the fish. In writing, once you land on that 'idea,' the rest of the words just flow forth like a river."
—VP
Copywriting
A look at a few of my favorite pharmaceutical and life science agency projects where my ACD partner and I surprised our clients with unexpected executions of a basic request. On the left, an ASCO booth signage request turned into a haiku. On the right, a sales aid request turned into a trifold bioinformatics platform reveal.
Video Concepts + Script Writing
A sample of my favorite video projects. Whether it's selling outdoor lifestyle or innovative pharmaceuticals, I believe the best script writing connects emotionally with the human spirit.
Content Writing
The majority of my current long-form work falls in the healthcare space. This includes ghost writing for thought leaders (B2B) in the post-acute care industry to connecting with patients and families (B2C) in need of long-term care and ABA therapy.
My approach to blog writing is founded in journalism. Though SEO is top of mind, I focus on reporting stories, talking to experts, and delivering content that benefits the client and the reader.
VIEW SHORT-FORM AD EXAMPLES HERE
Lessons Learned from the Yellow Brick Road to Value-Based Care
3 Benefits of School-Based Therapy in the New Digital Era
6 Dynamics Creating Momentum Toward Home-Based Care Delivery
Brand Writing
"When design discovers its voice, it's branding." —VP
I have been fortunate to work with a number of agencies that have very different approaches to branding. Some are rooted in design and intuition, while others rely on qualitative and quantitative research to establish verbal identities first and foremost. There's no right or wrong approach to branding, but my strength is that I know of an array of ways to get there.
North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
Project: Rebrand (2021)
Agency: Afton Klein Group / Bos Klein
Goal: Create a communications strategy that showcased the pride of North Carolina's legendary athletes and pair it with a modern design to appeal to a younger audience. To review elements of this project, including an example of how we brought this brand to life through video/animation, click HERE.
Awards: STA100
Check It 4 Andretti Foundation
Project: Rebrand (2021)
Afton Klein Group / Bos Klein
Goal: The Check It 4 Andretti Foundation wanted to position its brand as the go-to colon cancer awareness nonprofit among NASCAR fans. The challenge was to turn their foundation, which started as a hashtag social media campaign into a legitimate brand through new messaging and design. To review elements of this project, click HERE.
Park City Mountain: The New Standard
Project: Summer Campaign (2019)
Agency: Origin Outside
Goal: Extend "The New Standard" winter campaign into summer. As the Brand Manager for Park City Mountain, I was responsible for marketing summer activities. Our in-house team worked with Origin Outside to plan a 2-day photo shoot highlighting the many activities at the resort. The result was a seamless and beautiful extension of the winter campaign that reinforced a newly restaged brand. For the full concept deck, click HERE.
Ray Quinney & Nebeker
Project: Brand Study / Brand Book (2018)
Agency: TWIO Brand
Goal: Provide one of the largest, oldest, and most prestigious law firms in Utah with an updated verbal identity to support its content marketing efforts. The project kicked off by analyzing their internal brand perspective. I interviewed over 50 attorneys and compared that to external client data to build the brand's verbal identity and start incorporating voice. The result was a very research heavy brand study and an academic brand book weighted toward copy over design) that was relatable to their highly educated attorneys and staff. This flow chart shows how we took the elements of the research and verbal foundation to inform the content marketing strategy.
Favorites from Over the Years
Reporting & Editorial
I have penned more than 350 articles as a journalist that were published in 25 newspapers, magazines, and websites. More can be found HERE.
My favorite stories, however, are about women in sports who broke the glass ceiling. In my early journalism career, I quickly discovered that women in sports had no voice especially in the ski industry. This lack of storytelling was why three women, including myself, started the first non-profit for women in the outdoor space. We wanted to redirect the spotlight of media attention. In 2008, SheJumps was awarded the Pioneering Woman award—from now Camber Outdoors—for the outdoor advocacy and support of women. Now SheJumps is continuing the mission and making sure anyone who has historically been excluded from the outdoors gets access and a spotlight. SheJumps' reach is national—and unified by the internationally recognizable, and trademarked, Girafficorn—offering 100+ events and reaching 130,000+ unique website visitors annually. Partners include Arc'teryx, Yeti, Orvis, Alterra Mountain Company, IKON Pass, and many more. To learn more about SheJumps, visit shejumps.org.
Interested in seeing more of my work? Please get in touch and I’ll be glad to share some more pieces with you.
Denied: Why Won't the IOC Let Women Jump?
The Ski Journal
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) never allowed women ski jumpers a chance to jump. In fact, the president once said, to paraphrase, "their uterus could drop out." Though ski jumping is one of the original Winter Olympic Sports, the IOC refused to let women jump until the Sochi Games in 2014—90 years later. Even though any new sport they allowed had to include women well before then. Ski jumping was simply grandfathered OUT due to sexism. This is the story of Lindsey Van's journey to fight the IOC.
