Jenni Flanigan Haack

According to LinkedIn, I worked for GoPro for 5 years, 10 months, and 23 days. (But who’s counting?) I started as the brand’s first and only copywriter. By the time I left, I was the copy manager tasked with wrangling a growing team of copywriters, UX writers, a technical writer, and our linchpin copyeditor.

I worked on a bit of everything at GoPro. I partnered with designers and creative directors, UX specialists, product and marketing teams, and the founder/CEO to bring this incredible brand to life across every touchpoint imaginable. From naming, packaging, video scripts, and advertising to retail, paid social, and posters on the break room walls—every asset was an opportunity to share GoPro's vision with the world.

I go back from time to time as a freelancer—to help with launch or special projects—and I continue to be amazed by the passion and creativity GoPro inspires in its countless friends and fans across the globe. I was humbled and stoked to be part of the team that, for years, kept the magic coming.

Kindhumans is a new brand on a mission to make the world a kinder place. Created by former GoPro exec, Justin Wilkenfeld, and his wife Suzi Wilkenfeld, a former director at Feld Entertainment, the company’s goal is to promote kindness through the celebration of people, brands, and organizations that are shaping a better future with responsible products, enriching content, and grassroots community-building.

I worked with Kindhumans to launch their first campaign, “Kindness. Pass it on.”, working on web messaging, CRM emails, and UI copy in a tricky cart/checkout flow. I also helped craft their tagline, mission statement, and other brand-related messaging, and wrote the product descriptions for their branded products—setting the tone for their unique voice and defining copy fields for their product detail page template.

I was a copywriter at Sony Electronics for about three years. My team produced the assets for the Sony direct-to-consumer channel, mainly sony.com. Projects included product launches, landing pages, category redesigns, promotional copy, product positioning statements, headlines and taglines, SEO optimization, and more.

As a member of the Creative Services team, I worked closely with marketing and product teams, web producers, developers, designers, and UX to bring a huge variety of Sony products to life through beautiful, engaging online experiences.

Bragging rights: I was the lead copywriter on the online shopping cart and checkout redesign which increased conversion by 30% and won a Sony Project One award for its significant contribution to the company.

Oh, and more importantly, I acquired my very own Nerf Gun and learned to shoot a Star Wars figurine off a coworker's desk from three cubes away. (I sat close to the dev team, affectionately known as the “nerds”.) Good times for sure.

At the intersection of consumer electronics and healthcare you’ll find Neuvana, a new brand that’s making the benefits of vagus nerve stimulation accessible to everyone. Wait, the vagus what? Precisely the challenge we faced when launching this new product to the world. Almost no one knows of the vagus nerve—the longest cranial nerve that acts as a communication pathway between the brain and the body—let alone why they’d want to stimulate it. So not only did we have to interest our audience in the benefits, we had to educate them on the whole shebang from the start. It was a challenge, but I think we pulled it off with aplomb.

My contributions included the tagline, website content flow and copy, pre-launch and launch emails, app UI copy, and feature naming.

Oh, naming. What can I say? Naming a product, service, or feature is one of the most fun yet most challenging asks a copywriter can face. During my time at GoPro the ask came often. With so many boxes to check and stakeholders to please—from marketing and localization to the founder/CEO and the dreaded legal team (just kidding, you know I love you guys)—coming up with a name that works is a tall order. But we managed to do it. Over and over again. Here are a few of the fun ones.

True story: Know who pushed back hardest on the “3-Way” name? Dick’s Sporting Goods. (Dick’s!) As if they could complain.

HEART OF ISOLATION

Prowling For Surf In Fiji’s Far Reaches

“On the deck of the ferry, locals pull tarpaulins from knapsacks and settle in for the long haul—escaping the claustrophobic bowels of the boat which stink of seasick and the canned mackerel passengers merrily guzzle in the galley below. Inside the economy cabin, a sickening medley of mildew and body odor spikes air thick as hot breath and humidity.

We choose exposure to the elements over the questionable comforts of the cabin, and claim a decktop table as accommodations for our jaunt across the sea. Kaley reads Kingsolver. Mary recedes into iPod oblivion. I pass strange pleasantries with an androgynous teenager in a too-tight t-shirt. Temperatures drop as we motor past the protection of the bay and into open water. The sea begins to churn…”

Once upon a time I did some work for prAna, a growing brand in the sustainable apparel space. The “Art of Living” campaign celebrated the beauty and mystery of wild adventures in our outdoor playgrounds.

“Where the spirit leads the feet will follow. Down distant paths for unmapped miles. Heads forget but hearts remember: The art of living knows no bounds.”

While at GoPro I worked on a variety of videos. Mostly product marketing and education videos. But my favorite— the most fun and rewarding—was the video we made to celebrate International Women’s Day, honoring the badass babes who push what’s possible to turn their dreams into reality.

We created these small signs, or “hidden gems”, to post around Sony Electronics HQ—all for fun and the noble pursuit of making employees smile. It worked. Some informative (“Remember, paper towels come from trees”), some complementary (“You look healthier already”), and some snarky (“Please refrain from kicking the copier”), you could discover these tiny words of wisdom hidden throughout the campus from bathrooms to stairwells to break room walls.

Fun fact: The shapes of the gems were inspired by the letters in the word “SONY”.

Electra Bicycle Co. singlehandedly created the American cruiser bike craze that plays out daily across sidewalks and boardwalks around the globe. Equal parts engineering and aesthetics, Electra bikes are gliding works or art that deliver on the promise of their good looks with an equally smooth, comfortable, beautiful ride. I helped them launch a variety of bike collections (taglines, positioning, and marketing copy) and their “Way to Roll” campaign that celebrated everyday activists—ordinary people doing small things but making a big difference. This is the first catalog of the WTR campaign.

Electra Bicycle Co. singlehandedly created the American cruiser bike craze that plays out daily across sidewalks and boardwalks around the globe. Equal parts engineering and aesthetics, Electra bikes are gliding works or art that deliver on the promise of their good looks with an equally smooth, comfortable, beautiful ride. I helped them launch a variety of bike collections (taglines, positioning, and marketing copy) and their “Way to Roll” campaign that celebrated everyday activists—ordinary people doing small things but making a big difference. This is the second catalog during the life of the WTR campaign.

We created this series of print ads to support the Electra Bicycle Co. “Way to Roll” campaign. Each ad highlighted an Electra brand ambassador alongside a complementary Electra bike model. The ads appeared in Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Bicycle magazine and other publications.

DON’T CONFORM. CONVERT.

Their writer got sick. Or went MIA in South America. I can’t quite remember. That’s how I came to be asked by my friends at ARSNL Creative to step in and write some headlines for the “Don’t conform. Convert” campaign from Flow, maker of snowboard boots and bindings. Here are the ones that made the cut.

SURFIN’ SAN DIEGO

This feature piece on Encinitas, California, was commissioned by Visit California, an organization which promotes travel and tourism in the state of California. I got to gather up my girlfriends, load everyone into the “Wave Wagon,” and spend two days surfing, eating, and tripping around my hometown. All in a day’s work.

“…In a whirlwind of bikini strings and ponytails, we unloaded at Pipes, waxed up the surfboards and we were out there. The waves were sweet—waist-high and perfect for our nine-foot longboards—and the summertime water warm, blue and inviting. The guys in the surf did a double take as their peak was commandeered by a band of bikini-clad boardriders, but they didn’t complain one bit.

With world-famous San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park nearby, Encinitas is no stranger to creatures great and small, and its beaches are no exception. A pod of dolphins swam through the lineup not twenty feet from where we sat, and we watched one leap gleefully from the water in an impressive show of acrobatics. (Some guys will do anything to impress the girls.) …”

Photography: Alexa Miller

JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE BEACH

A Tour of the San Diego Surf Scene Courtesy of Five Professional Women Surfers

For years I was a contributing writer for a small, somewhat underground US surf publication, Mundo Rad!. Based in Puerto Rico, the magazine was an artsy, literary alternative to the standard surf mags, featuring a monthly theme (like poetry or progression); up-and-coming surfers; and wild, dream-like graphics.

“…Some people never really live. Some people spend their entire lives searching for that one thing that has the ability to bring them joy through bad presidents and old age. But we’ve found that satisfaction through surfing. Whether we choose to pursue world titles or just love to splash around on alternate Sundays, surfers know how to dream. But more importantly, we know how to chase our dreams. And that takes guts. We’re alive, we the dream chasers. Watch us shine…”