Vanessa Fortier Joins Chicago Agency TDP as Creative Director

The Distillery Project (TDP) has hired creative director Vanessa Fortier.

A creative leader with a proven ability to build major brands through the power of 360 cross-channel ideas, Fortier has received numerous industry awards, particularly at the Martin Agency, where she led world-class work on Benjamin Moore that received a long list of accolades, including Webbys, FWAs, Effies and a Silver Titanium/Integrated Cannes Lion. She also picked up several One Show pencils for work she led on Walmart—the first major awards for the world’s largest retailer.

Fortier has written numerous brand lines. Her most notable are “Paint like no other” for Benjamin Moore, and “Love the skin you’re in” for Olay, which served as the brand’s platform around the globe for a decade.

Before Martin, Fortier worked on global accounts at Saatchi NY—primarily Olay, Iams, and Eukenuba. Her first job was at Leo Burnett, where she cut her teeth on McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, P&G, Hallmark, and The Art Institute of Chicago.

If you had told Fortier back when she was starting out as a junior copywriter at Burnett that one day she’d be hired by one of her creative heroes, she’d have laughed you out of her 4x4 cubicle. But it looks like we got the last laugh. Joining The Distillery Project marks Fortier’s reunion with John Condon, whom she worked with at Leo Burnett. 

“I had the pleasure of working with Vanessa a few years back at Leo Burnett. And more recently than that, she worked with our head of Production, Nik Traxler, and one of our creative directors, JP Bovie, at The Martin Agency,” said John Condon, founder and CCO at the Distillery Project. “Over the years, she’s worked at several other agencies, developed a strong, continually evolving portfolio across a wide range of media and picked up a whole bunch of trophies along the way too. And now, we’re all back together at a place she’s never been before. Welcome to TDP, Vanessa!”