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ILFORD PHOTO: Black-and-white photographers didn’t need to see more photos in ads; they were thirsty for a brand that understood their art.

Inventive. Irrepressible. Illuminating. Ilford. Nobody sees more into black & white than we do.

Interactive. Introspective. Inseparable. Nobody knows the philosophy of black & white like we do.

Intriguing. Involving. Indelible. Nobody’s wilder about black & white than we are.

BMW wanted to acquire the secret torch its riders carried for Harley.

How LIFETIME STUDIOS in Queens won business away from Manhattan.

WYNN, Las Vegas, is about another kind of winning: service.

TIME HOTEL cultivated a creative niche for the heady business traveler.

With tourism sales down, ILNY had to be about loving the whole state.

OFFICE MAX showed it knew its customers only too well.

IRONBOUND BANK had to relate to its bread and butter prospects.

Dedicated to community, UMDNJ relies on national recognition.

TIMBERLINE COLOGNE is the hot pursuit of a playful kind of romance.

CONSUMER REPORTS showed the teeth of its new web watchdog.

CORCORAN needed to tease and buzz its new “240″ residence with fireplace lounge, rooftop pool, great views and location.

MEADOWLANDS RACETRACK required dialog with a younger crowd.

HACKENSACK, first the healthcare choice of women, then of their families.

On Forehead: The most uncomfortable part of a breast exam is felt here.
Over breast: Not here.

UNIVERSITY OF PENN HEALTH needed to connect its name with the emotional needs of its community.

London’s famous UNDERGROUND logo was to be a new clothing brand, connecting on a raw, authentic level with the the deeper intellectual and emotional conflicts under the surface of today’s teenager.

Each teenager’s story would be connected graphically to an Underground train station in London. The last stop on the red page is called “Deep.”

ANTI-COUNTERFEITING COALITION: When Prada, Versace, Swatch, Tiffany, Dior, Benetton, Guess, Louis Vuitton, Hilfiger, Rolex, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Coach, Chanel, Ray-Ban, et al, gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, they saw the problem, and marketing solution, in an urgent, new way: Fake brands kill real people.

I’m often asked this at conferences and events. My advice? Stretch your creative mind, and work your core.

Communicate on a remarkably creative level:

Beware what George in Seinfeld might have called creative shrinkage. Don’t retract into seemingly safe fetal positions. Be bolder, not meeker. Be more confident and creative , not less so.

Work your core communications channels.

Channel #1 : Public Relations. If you have news to run, syndicated news outlets will run it. That’s a no brainer, not a right brainer. Your  PR dollars must work more ingeniously. Redirect time and money to “Creative Pitching” — winning placements of featured interviews and stories in print, online, broadcast, and experiential media that connect the curiously random dots of your prospects’ lives.

Channel #2: Website and Online Network. Your website is often the quiet, first research tool for prospects. But it ought to be more than a digital brochure. Make it your brand channel where people take away and share a certain thing about you (a link) and send it to someone else. In this way, they expand your brand’s circle of conversation. This results in greater mass, an increased pressure inward, a tighter core. A network that perpetuates communication from one source of energy to another: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube…

Channel #3: Keyword Search and Contextual Advertising. Ok, you’re looking and sounding great. Now, be sure your prospects can find you. And once they find you, and then wander off, stay with them as they search elsewhere. Just a click away.

Channel #4: Direct Contact. Email blasts, events and conferences, RFPs, sales presentations. Rethink your direct contact with a prospect. Who sent which media coverage links to whom, and what did Sales do to turn that “Send” into a “Reply” ?  Look at your RFPs and sales presentations and speaking opportunities. Do the ways you make “Direct Contact” have an engaging, authentic feel?  Or are they missing that special touch that so greatly influence a prospect’s decision?

Whatever you do, do it with a distinct and creative energy electrified from the right side of your brain. It won’t matter what size your budget is. Just how smart and effective.

You’ve got your stack of books and magazines to go through for the holiday break. Well, they can wait. These are the stories that will flip that switch inside you. And the incomparable storyteller, Ira Glass, to get you started. \”American Lives\”

\”American Lives\”