FREELANCE SENIOR COPYWRITER AND CREATIVE STRATEGIST
From Feb 2020
Agencies:
Pentagram, Verbal Identity, Forge, Arttia Creative
Brands, organisations and charities:
Rightmove, The University of Cambridge (Partnership for Education), Vio.com, Soldo, Bouche, Skoot, Wild Nutrition, Helping Rhinos, John Lewis & Partners, John Lewis Finance, a heritage whisky maker, luxury bicycle brand, global name in food, market-leading beverage brand, top-5 US art gallery, and several biotech and healthcare businesses.
Work:
Tone of voice, style guides, brand positioning, competitor and market analysis, diversity and inclusion creative strategy, content strategy, internal comms, brand manifestos and other messaging, brand naming, brand boilerplates, new in-store departments and experiences, full website rewrites, online customer journeys, UX copy, industry reports and presentations, seasonal campaigns, video scripts, brand and marketing campaigns, emails, social posts, brochures, articles, case studies, infographics, white papers and senior copywriter cover.
HEAD OF COPY EQUIVALENT (COPY AND EDITORIAL MANAGER), JOHN LEWIS & PARTNERS
Oct 2016 - Dec 2019
Led the copy and editorial team for three years, creating market-leading content for ‘Britain’s favourite brand’.
Guardian of the brand tone of voice and strategic lead for all digital and print copy and editorial, covering homepage (3.5m weekly visits) and email (5m customer base), POS, brand communications and award-winning marketing campaigns.
Managed all copy and editorial for the 2018 John Lewis & Partners rebrand, including commissioning and communicating new brand tone of voice guidelines.
Planned, briefed and commissioned all editorial content for two full seasons, introducing reactive and trend-driven content, to drive 2 million visits in 2017.
Lead copy consultant for publications, e-commerce and own brand - with the John Lewis & Partners collection a key project.
Restructured and expanded the team of three copy managers and up to 12 Partners and contractors, reinvigorated objectives and delegating key developmental projects.
COPY MANAGER, JOHN LEWIS
Apr 2015 - Oct 2016
Guardian of brand tone of voice and responsible for all brand and store communications.
Managed a roster of freelance copywriters, set the editorial direction for all seasonal marketing campaigns and acted as a consultant for all publications.
Managed and wrote all copy for new store openings in Leeds, Horsham and Chelmsford and the first international franchise in Dubai. Completed the Oxford Street refurbishment, creating the largest Home department in the UK. Managed 1160 customer touchpoints for the new John Lewis Birmingham shop - one of Retail Week’s 4 best department stores in the UK.
Acted as a consultant and writer for the naming of new brands loved&found , AND/OR , Modern Rarity and Design Project by John Lewis. Introduced tone of voice guidelines for all new brands for the first time.
WEB EDITOR, JOHN LEWIS FINANCE
Nov 2013 - Apr 2015
Managed all editorial and content for the John Lewis Insurance, Partnership Card, Account Card, and John Lewis Bond websites, including articles, emails and social campaigns.
Responsible for tone of voice and style guidelines for John Lewis Financial Services.
Launched new International Payments and Foreign Currency websites, including full site builds.
Worked closely with the web analyst to complete a programme of incremental change, increasing time on page +4.9% and click to quote by 2.1%. Reviewed social content, leading to +243% growth in likes and +264% growth in shares on Facebook.
Copy consultant for all marketing and customer communications.
COPYWRITER, JOHN LEWIS
Aug 2011 - Nov 2013
Wrote high-quality commercial copy for online product pages, product banners, brand stories, landing pages and buying guides.
Proactively monitored sales, search and visits (Omniture, Google Analytics and Google Trends) to drive up to 52% YoY increases.
Responsible for weekly editorial ideation, content calendar and writing articles. Set up and managed an events calendar to ensure all editorial was timely and relevant.
Worked with an external agency to respond directly to customer ratings and reviews.
BUYING ASSISTANT, JOHN LEWIS
Nov 2007 - Aug 2011
Wrote digital editorial, packaging and e-commerce product copy and appeared in three online videos.
Responsible for buying own assortment, driving AW11 sales +5% to LY.
Managed AW10 Cookshop Special Buy, with 50 skus and £1.2m budget.
Wrote and presented two seasons of assortment review presentations.
Project managed the launch of the Neisha Crosland furnishings range.
Completed the Management Development Programme.
EDUCATION
University of Roehampton, Creative Writing, MA, Distinction and Creative Writing Prize recipient, 2017 – 2019
Durham University, English Literature, BA, 2:1, 2002 – 2005