Category Archives: San Francisco

Ben Heller

Ben is a freelance copywriter/CD based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s got a whopping 27 projects on his site for brands like Mobile 1, Sling, SVB, Facebook, Instagram, Pedigree, and MLB. For Schwab, Ben wrote “around 10 TV spots featuring a character named Carl, a bad broker anti-hero played by the hilarious Salvator Xuereb.” Schwab! Good times.

Portfolio: benheller.dunked.com

Mike Haftel

Mike Haftel is a freelance copywriter in San Francisco. (Mike’s been on MC a few times over the years, always great to see his portfolio updates.) Since his last post on MC in 2018, he’s added a bunch of new work to his site including a cool trailer for Alan Wake 2 (AKQA), a psychological/survival horror game. At the time of this post, the launch trailer is up for a Clio and Golden Joystick Award. Niiiice.

Portfolio: mikehaftel.com

Patty Clark

Patty is a copywriter/ACD at Yahoo in Sunnyvale, previously a copywriter/ACD at Verizon Media. Bunch of cool work for Yahoo on her site to check out. But also don’t miss The Disability Project: “People with disabilities make up about 20% of the population, but are featured in less than 2% of the images we see in the media. We set out to change that with The Disability Collection, a stock-photo library that empowers the media with more representative and authentic imagery of people with disabilities.” Love it.

Portfolio: pattyclarkcopy.com

Matt Vitou

Matt is a copywriter/ACD in San Francisco who has spent time at Droga5, 72andSunny, Saatchi NYC, W+K Shanghai, and most recently Lyft in-house (pre-pandemic). Since his last post on MC (way back on 05.08.11, when he was a baby copywriter), he’s been busy—and it shows. His portfolio is so good. It was nearly impossible for MC to pick which project to feature, Dos Equis “Keep It Interesante” or Samsung “Let’s Go To Work” or Nike or ESPN or … had to be Seventh Generation “Vajingle” with the one and only Maya Rudolph (above). OMG so good.

Portfolio: cargocollective.com/mattvitou

Sara Rochman

Sara is a copywriter at H&L Partners in San Francisco. Whole bunch of projects on her site for Toyota (including one featuring SF Giants catcher Buster Posey), plus McDonald’s, Oakland Museum of California (The Art of Burning Man), and a cute/not cute video for the UN to help spread the truth about COVID-19. “Stop licking toilets if you don’t want to be dead. Honestly that shouldn’t have to be said.” So true.

Portfolio site: sararochman.com

Lesly Pyle

Lesly is a copywriter/director of creative operations at Baker Street in San Francisco. She’s got a crazy variety of projects in her portfolio for brands like Baker Street (site), Hotel Nikko, NorCal Honda, Sun-Maid Raisins, and the San Francisco Giants. Don’t miss her Fan Contract for the Golden State Warriors (above) with season ticket holders, guaranteeing the 2010 team would 1. Make the Playoffs. 2. Win 25 home games. 3. Have at least one All Star. If they didn’t, they paid each fan back in cash and rewards. Dig it.

Portfolio: pyleofwords.com

Sara Muchnick & Katie Coward

Sara (copywriter) and Katie (art director) are a creative team at Pereira O’Dell in San Francisco. Since their last post on MC (back on 10.29.18), they’ve been busy. There’s new work on both of their sites (and different work on each), including a super cool project for Ese by Pearson (above). Time for an update!

Sara’s portfolio: saramuchnick.com

Katie’s portfolio: katiecoward.com

Jasmin Sun

Jasmin is a copywriter/ACD at Mekanism in San Francisco and a recovering food writer. (From her About page: “Email me for unsolicited opinions about pho, barbeque, or how to make a proper Negroni.” Negronis are so good, MC may have to do that.) All kinds of cool projects in her portfolio for brands like Franzia (above, for National Picnic Day), Aetna, Crest, Dropbox, St Ives, Quaker Oats, Pure Leaf, NikeWomen, and more. Dig it.

Portfolio: jasminsun.com

Amanda Wennberg

Amanda is a new copywriter (originally from Sweden) currently interning at MullenLowe in Boston and a recent graduate from Academy of Art in San Francisco. Her student portfolio is an awesome mix of projects (that have won a ton of student awards), including “Think Inside the Box” for the NY Times, “Fueled by Youth” for Kia (above), AdAge-ISM, “Female Figures” for Adidas, and “Zap Mode” for Apple (wish it were real). Love it all. Can’t wait to see where Amanda lands!

Portfolio: amandawennberg.com

Evan Burton

Evan is a copywriter at Camp+King in San Francisco. (Great shop!) All kinds of killer projects on his site for brands like Amazon (above, with Yeti), Starbucks, Mountain Dew, Del Taco, and Energizer. Also, don’t miss the Commercial/Hip-Hop Haiku on his Life page. “maybe they should use / Rubbermaid™ to help themselves / stay fresher, longer.” Yes.

Portfolio: evanburtoncreative.com

Sara Muchnick

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Sara is a new copywriter at DDB in San Francisco and a recent graduate of Miami Ad School. First thing you’ll notice is that she’s redesigned her Squarespace site to look like a Spotify page (above). How cool is that? Cool. Super interesting mix of projects on her site, including Kanye West’s platform for his 2020 run, U.S. of Ye. One can only imagine.

Portfolio: saramuchnick.com

Mike Haftel

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Mike is a freelance senior copywriter in San Francisco. Since his last post on MC (back on 01.09.15), he’s been busy. His new projects include a social media launch for the Xbox One X “Feel True Power” campaign (above), creative strategy and a cinematic spot for Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Siege game, and a global 360 campaign for Microsoft Cloud. Time for an update!

Portfolio: mikehaftel.com

Corey Rosenberg

yelp

Corey is a copywriter/CD in San Francisco. Every creative has heard (more than once) that advertising is a mix of art and business. In Corey’s case, so is his portfolio site. In addition to his projects, he’s also got merchandise and educational videos for sale, which anyone can purchase right off the site. Also, don’t miss his Testimonials page. That’s a lot of love.

Portfolio: coreyrosenberg.com

ACD/CD & Account Director Wanted: Hub, San Francisco

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DJ O’Neil, good friend to MC and master of ceremonies at Hub in San Francisco, is on the hunt for some peeps. From DJ:

ACD/Creative Director
We’re looking for an accomplished ACD/CD that is comfortable working both as an art director and a designer; if we could only choose one of those two skill sets for this position, it would definitely be on the design side. We need a person that can lead a client through a complete visual re-brand—walking them through the entire process of identity, visual look and feel and go to market creative for a fully integrated brand. We are looking for a very talented person here; we continually attract clients that want truly great work, and we need someone with the ability to deliver on that.

Account Director
We’re a small place, with no gigantic clients. Which means all of the clients we work with are the actual decision makers. As such, we’re looking for an account director that can work with these decision makers and really run pieces of business—from writing initial SOW’s, to writing marketing plans, to managing the client and steering them toward great strategy and great creative, to managing the account team that keeps the budgets and timelines on track, to growing the business, and everything in between. We’re not looking for a “yes” man or woman—this person will be a true client partner, and that means pushing back (for the client’s own benefit) when necessary—we believe this is how great client relationships are built. Ideally, this person thinks more like a CMO than and ad guy/gal.

For more info or to apply, email DJ at: dj@hubsanfrancisco.com

Bari Khan

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Bari is a copywriter at DigitasLbi in San Francisco. His site is loaded with gaming projects for titles like Shadows of the Colossus, The Last Guardian, Until Dawn, and Horizon: Hero Dawn – The Watchers. For the latter, Bari’s team brought the game to life by literally bringing Watchers to life at E3 (above). Fingers crossed he gets to borrow it for Halloween.

Portfolio: bariakhan.com

Hugh Gurin

justice

Hugh is a freelance copywriter/CD in San Francisco (and a good friend to MC). Been a little more than two years since Hugh’s last post (12.10.15), and since then he’s been busy. He’s got 32 projects up on his site—and like a gazillion killer headlines. Don’t miss his first project for UC Hastings (above). Truth.

Portfolio: hughgurin.com

Copywriter Wanted (Contract), NerdWallet, San Francisco

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NerdWallet is on the hunt for freelance copywriter to join their team in San Francisco. From NerdWallet: “We’re looking for an imaginative and skilled marketing copywriter to join our Brand Studio team on a contract basis. This is an on-site, 40 hour/week contract role based in San Francisco. This person will write compelling, clear and strategic copy that drives business results and supports key marketing initiatives while maintaining the NerdWallet voice and vision. We’re looking for a self-driven, creative problem solver who’s passionate about making personal finance clear and human.

As the marketing leg of our copy team, you’ll work closely with our designers and the Paid Marketing team to craft messaging and copy for digital deliverables.

Where you can make an impact:

  • Working closely with Paid Marketing and Brand Studio designers to create engaging concepts for landing pages, display ads, social and video.
  • Communicating complex financial concepts using punchy, conversational language.
  • Developing collaborative relationships with performance marketing managers to craft campaign and feature-specific messaging, value props and benefit-driven copy.
  • Digesting performance metrics and integrating learnings into creative.
  • Understanding and identifying the nuances between between high-performing copy across various channels.

Your experience:

  • 2+ years of related marketing copywriter experience at an advertising or marketing agency, or in-house creative team.
  • Must have digital experience — especially direct response copywriting.
  • Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
  • Organized and able to reference past projects when needed.
  • A love of storytelling and thinking outside the box to create impactful marketing campaigns and materials.
  • A strong interest in personal finance, and a curiosity to learn more.”

For full job description and to apply: Click here

ACD Writer & Intern Writer Wanted: Edelman SF & LA

Edelman

Heidi Espejo, Recruiting Manager for Edelman Western Region, is on the hunt for an ACD copywriter to join their San Francisco team and an intern copywriter to join their Los Angeles team. From Heidi:

ACD/COPYWRITER

Edelman is looking for an Associate Creative Director to join its award-winning San Francisco creative team, working on some of the world’s biggest and most exciting brands. Edelman is a great place to grow your talent and hone your craft. You will be challenged to push convention and your own creativity to find the most innovative ways to drive consumer behavior in today’s socially-charged, digital environment.

Edelman is a new kind of agency, at the intersection of PR, Advertising, Social, Digital, and Experiential. We blur the lines between each medium to create smart, innovative, and powerful work that gets people talking and engaging with brands in new ways. We’re passionate, unconventional and driven by a desire to do the best damn work possible. We get results for our clients and have the trophies to prove it. We also laugh a lot Ö and swear a little.

Glimpse life on the inside with #lifeon27 on Instagram.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Serve as the client-facing creative lead for key accounts, providing high-level creative strategy, brand stewardship and executional oversight for all creative programs and deliverables across social, digital and PR
  • Lead (and sometimes execute) projects from concept to completion for a wide range of marketing outputs from short-form video and interactive web experiences to a variety of social content and experiential activations

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • 7-10 years experience in marketing, advertising or social media
  • Portfolio: A body of work that showcases your writing chops across a variety of clients with an innate ability to bring to life the nuances of a brandís unique voice
  • Social fluency and a solid understanding of how to drive conversation and engagement across social channels

Send portfolios to: heidi.espejo@edelman.com

 

INTERN COPYWRITER

As part of this 20+ team of Copywriters, Designers, Creative Directors and Producers, you will be working on some of the world’s biggest and most exciting brands. You will be continually challenged to push convention and your own creativity to find the most innovative ways to influence conversation, perceptions and culture in exciting and meaningful ways.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Assist the creative team with copywriting needs across multiple brand accounts ranging in entertainment, gaming, lifestyle and more
  • Work closely alongside creatives and account teams to help concept ideas and flesh out campaigns, from the initial brainstorm to the final presentation for a variety of creative deliverables
  • Demonstrate hustle and curiosity in expanding your creative skills and overall professional experience in a competitive, evolving and fast-paced environment
  • Stay abreast of industry trends and seek out an understanding of the communications marketing offering from creative to earned media to specialties and everything in between.

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • The intern candidate must have a BA/BS from an accredited college or university. Disciplines in English, Journalism and/or Communications are a plus
  • An online portfolio of creative work, with samples of four or more creative projects demonstrating copywriting capabilities
  • Strong conceptual thinking, demonstrating an appreciation for multi-channel storytelling and overarching strategic direction

To apply: Click here

Brian Powers

bumble

Brian is an art director/designer/CD in San Francisco, previously at start-up Madison Reed in SF and DigitasLBi Chicago, Ogilvy Chicago, and Doner Detroit before that. He’s got a beautiful Squarespace site that shows off six brands/projects for Madison Reed, Bumble & Bumble, Dove, Interface, Jim Beam, and BP Stations. Dig it.

Portfolio: pwrs.me

 

David Roth

outsidelands

David is a freelance copywriter/ACD/stand-up comedian in San Francisco. Since his last post on MC (11.06.13), David has focused on comedy and comedy projects—and his site totally reflects that. Which is both awesome and once again proves MC’s theory that drummers, surfers and comedians make great copywriters. Killer projects up and down his site, but don’t miss his first link, Stand-Up Comedy. So funny.

Portfolio: seriousboyfriend.com

Shirley Chan

madison

Shirley is a freelance copywriter/ACD in San Francisco. She’s got super interesting career experience (LinkedIn here), including Editorial Director at Madison Reed, Copywriter at Fab.com, PM at Random House, and Reporter at the New York Post. Tons of strategy, UX/UI, and brand voice work on her site, too. Dig it.

Portfolio: sh.irleygirl.com

Freelance Copywriter Wanted: Donnan, NorCal

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Kirk Donnan, of Donnan Creative Strategy in Sunnyvale, CA, is on the hunt for a killer freelance writer based in Northern California. From Kirk: “My virtual agency just landed a big client and I need a high-tech copywriter/designer yesterday. If we can find a stellar writer that has a good design perspective, that would suffice.

First assignment: 20-30-slide powerpoint that the CMO can present to Sales and Marketing departments on Jan. 25, at the annual Sales Kickoff.

This is a very technical company, so I need someone with tech, strategy and creative chops. The job will involve spending quite a bit of time with the CMO over the next few weeks in Santa Clara, CA. So someone based in San Francisco or Northern California is probably best.”

Send your portfolio or link to Kirk at: kirk@donnancreativestrategy.onmicrosoft.com

Derek Edwards

derek

Derek is an art director/designer/creative director in San Francisco. (MC met Derek in SF two weeks ago, good peeps!) Great mix of art direction and design on his site, include a bunch of projects for Macy’s. Don’t miss his photo art direction page, some really beautiful work (including the photo above, MC wants to live there). Dig it.

Portfolio: derekcreates.com

Sara Iravani

sara

Sara is a copywriter in San Francisco. She’s got a cool mix of projects in her portfolio, including lots of editorial, fashion and beauty. MC got the chance to meet Sara a few months back and she’s good peeps. If you’re looking to meet a writer in SF with fashion/beauty experience, definitely give her a shout.

Portfolio: sarairavani.com

Aisha Hakim

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Aisha is an art director at Venables Bell & Partners in San Francisco. She’s got a great mix of projects for Reebok on her site, including 25,915 Days (the average number most of us live), above. Also, don’t miss her Mercury Awards-winning radio for VOCALiD. Love that the first art director on MC this week has won a Mercury. Dig it.

Portfolio: aishamadeit.com