HOW I DO IT
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WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY
“Heather is the best concept creator
I have ever met...
her ability to combine effective writing and
design is quite rare.”
"She tirelessly works to shape and direct our creative strategies,
and generates new
and exciting ideas
to set us apart...
she is an integral part of every communications piece that leaves the firm.”
WHAT I HAVE TO SAY
“In my opinion, the best leaders are those who make you want to follow them.
They see the point on the horizon and let you know they need your help to get there...
and will respect and appreciate all you do in that regard. After the point of arrival,
they also remember everything it took to get there. That is the type of leader I admire
and those are the characteristics I strive for in my position.”
Testimonials are direct quotes from 360 reviews.
REAL WORLD EXAMPLES
Experience listens. Be heard.
For over eight years, I worked as a creative professional for Holme Roberts & Owen, a commercial
law firm with 200+ attorneys and nine offices worldwide. I started with the firm in 2003 as graphic designer, with my role evolving by 2006 to creative director after I took on the challenge of rebranding and repositioning the firm with a new identity campaign. What an exciting few years
it was to complete that project! I hired a designer to work on my everyday tasks while I focused on
the identity...researching the culture and history, asking lots of questions, brainstorming, and presenting my results to the Executive Committee.
Within two months, I had developed an effective differentiator (attorneys who actually listen to their clients’ needs before dispensing advice), a new tag line (Experience Listens. Be Heard.), a promise of service (No matter where you are, no matter what time it is, no matter how complex your problem
may be...we’re listening), the beginnings of a national ad campaign, a redesigned website, and the
look and feel for new collateral. I then spent another two months traveling to all of the firm’s offices
to explain the process, gain partner buy-in, and roll out the new campaigns to all attorneys and staff through a series of hour-long, storyboard-inspired presentations. I needed to use my visionary ability, followed by tenacity, gumption, and confidence to create this campaign, to justify and defend it, and to implement it effectively.
HRO had great success over the years with the new identity, gaining attention from clients and competitors, receiving positive feedback and results from brand recognition research companies, improving internal morale, and receiving numerous awards.
Since that time, two other large corporate firms have recruited me specifically for my vision and creativity. Holland & Hart asked me to lead their efforts in regional branding and national advertising. And more recently, Snell & Wilmer, headquartered in Phoenix, brought me in to bring a rebranding effort into being and to inspire their creative team.
VIEW IDENTITY CAMPAIGN IN PORTFOLIO
Holland & Hart Hometown Roots Ad Campaign
In early 2012, while on assignment in Holland & Hart’s Reno office, the managing partner explained to me that one marketing hurdle the office could not seem to overcome was what he called “Hale Lane hangover.” The challenge was that in 2008, Holland & Hart absorbed Hale Lane, a smaller local firm with four decades of history in Reno’s closely-knit business community.
The individual Hale Lane attorneys who joined the firm were very well known and respected throughout the area, but Holland & Hart was relatively new in the market and did not have much brand recognition. So, although people recognized the attorneys, they did not really associate them with Holland & Hart.
To meet this challenge, I worked with the Nevada marketing manager to form a campaign that highlighted the notable attorneys by photographing them in various locations throughout the
town and featured quotes from them about their connections to the Reno community and to Holland & Hart. Over the next few months, I conducted photo shoots with the attorneys. I asked the marketing manager to chat with them about their “hometown roots” and take casual notes while I was shooting. This made for a very comfortable environment and minimized the subjects’ nervousness...which came through in the final campaign.
For a year, we ran the ad series in local business publications and online. It gained the attention we were after...Holland & Hart attorneys were hearing from clients and competitors who noticed them in the ads. Office morale was up. The “us and them” feelings faded away. The campaign culminated with a fun and much-talked-about ad titled “Football Fandemonium,” which featured various Holland & Hart Reno folks posing in local high school football team face paint...rooting for their hometown teams. This ad was so popular, we followed it up with a version that supported the UNLV Wolfpack. Success all around — and produced entirely in-house.
