Roberto Curtis

Roberto delivers a monologue about how he's been writing for a long time.

🤖 Monologue written by ChatGPT

💬 Chat prompt & concept by Roberto Curtis

Content design / UX writing / Content strategy

Facebook Reels wanted to reward video creators with up to $100k in prizes. While the Reels ecosystem already houses millions of videos, the Reels Reward Contest aimed to bring new creators into the fold. Through eye-catching entry points, turnkey contest eligibility, and slapping “$100K” everywhere, our team attracted hundreds of thousands of hopeful entries.

Digital Copywriting

By teaming up with Apple, NikeLab put its coveted stamp on the world of wearable technology for the first time. The Apple Watch NikeLab featured deep integration with the Nike Run Club App and Siri compatibility.

I helped refresh nike.com/nikelab to launch the limited edition, neutral-toned watch as the ultimate style companion and announce the collaboration between Apple and Nike’s most exclusive category.

Content Design / UX Copywriting / Content Strategy / Marketing Copy

Molekule needed an app onboarding experience that complemented the premium design of its mightiest air purifier while also conveying the benefits of its groundbreaking filters. Through clean language, illustration, and design, the app lets users find the best spot for their purifier while revealing just the right amount about Molekule’s clean air technology.

I supported the mapping out of the onboarding experience as a follow-up to the unboxing journey. I wrote concise, friendly messaging to get users through the flow so they could breathe clean air faster.

The late Virgil Abloh’s first apparel capsule with Nike dropped the same day as the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Nike x Off-White™ collab celebrates football’s universal reach and language through reimagined silhouettes.

As lead writer for Nike influencer marketing, I carried out messaging for digital and physical retail, including the naming exploration that brought us “Football, Mon Amour”. But the most fun was writing the “Match Programme”, a gifted booklet filled with editorial interviews, product stories, and lifestyle photography inspired by the true fan experience.

Content Design / UX Copywriting / Content Strategy / Marketing Copy

Molekule has constantly worked to refine its checkout experience to make it easier for folks to bring home clean air. As the content design lead, I helped shape many of those refinements. Whether it was a full Shopify-to-Magento e-comm migration, or rolling out the company’s first in-app purchase experience, each lift saw hearty sales upticks thanks to simple design and language.

Content Design / UX Copywriting

ChefsFeed is a food-finding app that serves up chef-recommended dishes. By providing only qualified opinions, the app helps people find great food in their city.

I helped map out the on-boarding experience and write friendly, conversational messaging within the app to teach users how to find food fast.

Content Strategy / Creative Direction / Copywriting / Product Naming

Concept 1 — The Modern Air Purifier

The Molekule Air Pro purifier is as beautiful as it is groundbreaking. So we showed just that.

Concept 2 — So Much Happens

Molekule’s next TV spot shows the bustle of the average home, while zooming in on the premium quality of its most advanced air purifier. Time-lapse motion and slow panning showed that while indoor air is often an afterthought, so much happens under one roof.

Concept 3 — Do You Hear That?

Molekule goes behind the science, down to its core to show its true power. Deep, dramatic narration plays to the technology’s no-nonsense effectiveness, while rapid, jostling moments highlight the ruthless destruction happening at the molecular level.

My role

For Concept 1, I worked with the in-house Brand Team to write and storyboard the video, while providing creative direction to the vendor.

For Concepts 2 & 3, I led content strategy to ensure scripts stayed true to brand tone while going through one in-house and one agency writer. I supported VO talent selection and creative direction on script readings in the studio. Lastly, I wrote on-screen copy and provided direction in post-production.

Concept 1: Kühl & Han

Concept 2 & 3: Near Future

Content Strategy / Social Media Strategy / Digital Copywriting

The Nike All Conditions Gear collection has maintained cult-like status since vanishing from production over two decades ago. Now a seasonal staple of NikeLab, ACG fully embraces urban explorers as they weather the elements.

As a writer for NikeLab, I helped conceive the launch strategy and craft copy for NikeLab.com, @Nike and @NikeLab social handles, and the Nike app to convey the evolved functionality and versatility of NikeLab ACG.

Content Strategy / Copywriting

NikeLab launched the revolutionary ACG.KMTR.07 shoe (later known as the Komyuter) to accompany its semi-annual ACG collection. Featuring a laceless, internal strap-system, the shoe was as pioneering as it was visually unusual.

I helped demystify the shoe and convey the ease of the new technology through a 3-screen mobile carousel that leaned on the ACG mantra, "Move. Adapt. Protect."

Social Media Strategy / Digital Experience Design / Digital Copywriting

Straight from the mind of Undercover Lab founder and designer Jun Takahashi, Gyakusou is both a NikeLab apparel collection and a Tokyo-based run club created to help runners achieve mental focus so they perform at their best. Literally running in reverse in Japanese, Gyakusou is named for the counterclockwise direction Takahashi’s club travels around Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, rebelling against tradition.

Through NikeLab, I helped conceive content strategy, develop the digital experience, edit the campaign film’s narrative, create subtitles, and craft the wider story through compelling copy across NikeLab.com, the Nike+ app, and @NikeLab and @Nike social channels. The film earned 2.8 million views from the @Nike Instagram handle.

Content Strategy / Digital Copywriting / Technical Writing

2016 signaled the realization of a Nike concept over 30 years in the making. Originally conceived for Marty McFly in Back to the Future II, self-lacing sneaker technology finally came to life through the Nike HyperAdapt 1.0. With a compact motor housed in the midsole of the sneaker, the HyperAdapt needed a quick guide to teach users about the auto-lacing function.

I worked with Nike researchers, strategists and designers to simplify the complex technical language around arguably the most anticipated Nike shoe in history. The end result was a downloadable, print-ready Quick Start Guide that could fit in the HyperAdapt box, allowing people to quickly slip on the shoe and feel the future of footwear.

UX Copywriting / Content Design

eBay redesigned its mobile app and asked Instrument to announce it to the world. My team built a marketing site that showed eBay's new look and feel to mobile buyers and sellers, while telling the story through short, friendly copy. We packed the site with app UI, smart UX copy, and even linked to beautifully shot products for purchase right on eBay. 

Content Strategy / Editorial Planning / Social Media Strategy / Digital Copywriting / Copyediting

Wonderland was about more than showing what makes Portland so great. It focused on giving back and encouraging people to become active participants in the change taking place around them.

I helped develop the theme, campaign strategy, book, website and social assets to promote the 3,100-person event. An intro video featured interviews with everyday Portlanders that I helped conduct. Attendees received an event book featuring speaker bios, inspiring quotes, and an A-Z guide to enjoying and improving the city. We even put together a backpack filled with goods designed to help make lives just a bit more wonderful. 

Content Strategy / Script Writing / Audio Direction / Creative Direction

There once was a young runner,
Determined and resolute,
Who embarked on a quest
To set a personal best on her route…

Instrument collaborated with Nike and Pico Sound to create The Science of Just Right, a journalistic-style podcast and apparel site that dove into the science behind Nike's thermoregulation technology.

I developed the content strategy, wrote the audio script, directed the audio engineers, and directed the vocal talent live in-studio. The result was a high-spirited short that featured a nursery rhyme introduction and futuristic sound design to complement the innovation. The podcast featured narration by a Nike running coach, and interviews with apparel experts, the NFL's Victor Cruz, and a sweating manikin named Hal.

Listen to the podcast

Digital Copywriting

Instrument rebuilt Sequoiacap.com to set Sequoia up with a bold personality worthy of its success. We highlighted the venture capital firm’s track record with the 300+ companies it helped grow.

Together with a team of copywriters and strategists, we rethought the way Sequoia talked about its partners. I told many companies' stories by focusing on the “crucible moment”—the spark that propelled them to greatness.

Content Strategy / Digital Copywriting

Instrument launched Red Bull Orange Edition across North America. Based on the mantra “Seize the can. Seize the day,” we introduced everyday opportunities to knock back a Red Bull that departed from the brand's usual extreme sports vibe.

We created video, photography, gifs, social assets and advertorials for RedBull.com over the six-week campaign.

Content Strategy /  Digital Copywriting / Editorial Writing

Instrument builds sites, apps and digital experiences for some of the world’s biggest brands. It deserved a site as fresh as its own work.

I interviewed creatives, producers and strategists to write case studies and editorial content for the new Instrument.com that showed prospective clients the thinking behind one of Portland’s hottest digital agencies.