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Creative Director

Amy Derksen

Creative Director

Part of the FATFREE team since before the beginning, Amy spends her time weaving engaging stories across just about every industry and channel—for local startups as well as some of the world's top brands. She's a whiz at making complex technical ideas simple enough for anyone to comprehend, as well as getting inside audiences' heads to understand what's most likely to motivate. From launch videos and online ads to websites and deep-dive content, she loves meeting people where they are and connecting them with the information they need to make a decision.

Amy honed her skills at industry leaders The Martin Agency and Leo Burnett—winning awards for Coca-Cola, IBM, GEICO and others—before realizing she prefers working directly with clients to make a real difference in their businesses.

Recent Perspectives by Amy

Exactly what does “cooler” mean? How to give feedback to your marketing team.

Exactly what does “cooler” mean? How to give feedback to your marketing team.

We use a lot of squishy words when describing creative—cool, fun, authentic, clean—because how we react to words and images is visceral. Trouble is, those words can mean very different things…

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Why is short-form video so popular?

Why is short-form video so popular?

Mash together “storytelling” and “authenticity”—two popular goals for marketing briefs today—and what have you got? TikTok (if you’re under 30) and Instagram Reels (if you’re not). TikTok…

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Your email mantra: Everyone is busy and nobody cares.

Your email mantra: Everyone is busy and nobody cares.

It may seem harsh, but marketing writers know that very few people will ever read our words. Maybe it’s the drive to get people to notice us that keeps us going. The key is to not take it…

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ICYMI: Our top posts of 2023

ICYMI: Our top posts of 2023

We set out to create a top-three roundup, AI articles (like AI itself) seemed to be taking over. Sure, AI is important, but it’s not the only thing that happened last year. So here’s a top five by some…

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Digital marketing: What hasn’t changed since the days of dial-up?

Digital marketing: What hasn’t changed since the days of dial-up?

Long, long ago, like in 1996, I had the distinction of writing Coca-Cola’s first ever website. The site is long gone, but the relationships with my Martin Interactive-turned-FATFREE…

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In not-too-trusty times, how does a marketer build trust?

In not-too-trusty times, how does a marketer build trust?

AI has people falling in love with animals and places that don’t exist. Social platforms go out of their way to make you angry in the name of “stickiness.” Politics? Well, I’ll stay out of that. And…

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The problem with personas—and why scenarios should reign

The problem with personas—and why scenarios should reign

A recent meme made me spit coffee across my keyboard. Not only because it was funny, but because it encapsulated so easily what has always frustrated me about audience personas…

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Boring but important: Is your FAQ a fake?

Boring but important: Is your FAQ a fake?

Let’s turn our attention to an important yet underappreciated destination in your website—the frequently asked questions page. For many companies, it’s clearly an afterthought, filled…

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The leap from mobile-friendly to mobile-first

The leap from mobile-friendly to mobile-first

In sad news for web designers (and marketers who want to put everything on their home pages), mobile web access is now officially beating desktop by 2 to 1. For some of…

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After years of gaining ground, women are back in the kitchen—in advertising, at least

After years of gaining ground, women are back in the kitchen—in advertising, at least

As late as December 2022, the Association of National Advertisers was excitedly reporting that female and minority representation were on the rise. They left out, however…

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