HI, I’M COURTNEY FANNING
FOUNDER OF BIG PICTURE BRANDING
I’ve built my career on diving deep into consumer behavior and asking how brands can be better communicators.
I don’t believe that purpose and profit are exclusive, but I do believe that most businesses are putting their purpose — a powerful marketing tool — on the back-burner.
As a purpose-focused brand strategist, it is my mission to help businesses clarify their values and create powerful stories that resonate with the right audience to create greater impact.
I’ve spent 10 years building one-of-a-kind brand and marketing experiences for organizations across multiple industries. The diversity of my experience has exposed me to a wide range of consumer types and I know what makes them tick.
Some of my work includes building brand strategies for two of the “Big Six” publishing companies. I’ve worked with New York Times bestselling authors and fostered brand partnerships with major American cosmetics, retail, and media companies. I’ve built a ground-up brand and marketing strategy for a tech startup serving Fortune 500 clients. I’ve watched as a 93-year-old magazine evolved its brand and print product to cater to a digital-first economy. I’ve worn one of the many rotating hats required to keep a resource-strapped but impassioned nonprofit afloat. And I’ve worked to help differentiate a performing arts higher education institution in an effort to raise application and enrollment rates.
HOW I GOT INTO THIS BUSINESS
my story
I decided to make the switch from building multi-million dollar marketing campaigns and fostering fancy-pants brand partnerships to working with emerging and creative brands when I was sitting in a major company rebrand meeting and not a single person could articulate our business’s vision or purpose.
Not a single person.
As I reflected on my career and projects of the past, I wondered why this rebrand in particular just wasn’t working. What was different this time around that prevented us from figuring out how to position and talk about the incredible products we were putting out into the world? It felt like we were putting the cart before the horse, talking about design, funnels, channels, when we didn’t really know who we were…
[CUE THE LIGHTBULB MOMENT]
WE NEEDED TO DEFINE OUR PURPOSE. We needed to lay the foundation for our brand FIRST in order to articulate what we did, why were were truly the bomb dot com, who our target audience was, and how we could effectively communicate and engage with them in meaningful ways that ultimately closed deals, built our reputation, and brought home the bacon.
A year later, as we delivered our project over the finish line, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted to do it all over again. But with one caveat..
I wanted to bring my 10+ years experience and Brand Strategy Blueprint method to the emerging and the creative.
I’m a master storyteller who has used her skills to sell books, higher education, software, mobile apps, coaching programs, jewelry collections, memberships and a heck of a lot more.
My clients are building businesses, raising VC, selling products, launching programs, signing clients, and taking their brands to the next level with clarity and confidence.
READY TO STOP GOING IN CIRCLES WRITING (AND RE-WRITING) YOUR WEBSITE COPY?
READY TO ARTICULATE YOUR BRAND VOICE?
READY TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF CONTENT TO WRITE AND POST?
READY TO HAVE YOUR GO-TO MESSAGING MASTERFULLY WRITTEN OUT?
READY TO UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE AND SPEAK TO THEIR PROBLEMS?
Let’s get to work!
IT ME.
WHATCHA’ DOING DOWN HERE?
how about some fun facts to reward you for making it to the bottom…
-
My love for amplifying brand awareness through the art of compelling storytelling developed as I navigated my way through the marketing and publicity departments of NYC’s major book publishing houses.
-
Breaking down silos and redefining leadership standards is a pet project of mine. I currently serve on the Women in Leadership Nexus Member Experience Team.
-
I believe in the power of building bridges. I am a Refugee Mentor with Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island and a Student Mentor with Pathways in Technology Early College High School (PTECH).
-
Despite being a night-owl through and through, I used to spend sunrise-mornings (4:45am wake up call!) packing veggie boxes for local schools, community centers, and hospitals with Farm Fresh Rhode Island.
-
I obtained a B.A. in English Literature and Language from the University of Washington and an M.S. in Digital & Print Media from NYU as a Bantam Publishing Studies Fellow.
-
I still write freelance from time to time for publications such as The Rising Tide Society, Working Mother Magazine, WIL Nexus Blog, and Seattle Homes & Lifestyles Magazine.
