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The previous ads for the firm’s Special Needs practice group featured trite photos of children with special needs. They did not reflect the firm’s deeply felt understanding of this audience. As I met with the families, I learned some of their children are talented artists. We started licensing their artwork for use in our ads. This made the ads more distinctive while celebrating the talented artists. We invited them to show their work at our events and we gave them publicity. This program accurately reflected the firm’s commitment and increased the comfort level of families who needed our help.
To capitalize on the Downtown Worcester redevelopment buzz, we asked The Worcester Business Journal to insert our Commercial Real Estate ads into relevant articles. The campaign evolved into practice area ads tied to editorial. With short copy, witty headlines and beautiful photography, the ads drove brand awareness and showed this 200-year-old firm as fresh and current. The campaign also ran each month in New England Real Estate Journal accompanied by attorney articles. Together, these campaigns were key parts of the marketing mix that drove a nearly 40% billings gain in four years.
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Nothing inspires the creative team like telling them the client wants a “cheeky” campaign. Babson Executive Conference Center wanted to show off their excellent cuisine and that meetings there could be fun. This playful campaign delivered the desired results via signage, ads and e-blasts.
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I asked the sales staff “What question do customers ask the most?” In the home decorating department, fabrics were merchandised by color. Customers would show a fabric they had selected and ask, “Do you have anything that goes with this?” I suggested we remerchandise by “go-withs,” each fixture holding an array of fabrics that could coordinate in a single room. Sales in that store immediately jumped 30%. So, we implemented the change chainwide with the same results. The change also enhanced morale because the staff enjoyed choosing the coordinates.
Our marketing communications elevated the chain’s brand perception so much that we won three Best of Boston awards in one year: Fabric Store, Custom Draperies, Upholsterers.
Then I built FabricPlace.com, the first known fabric retailer website.
05
Research revealed low awareness among footwear buyers and consumers for the Street Cars brand of men’s comfort shoes. So, we created memorability by association. We redesigned the logo to look like a streetcar, applied it to our shoe boxes, and hit the streets. For the trade publication Footwear News, we created ads that visually replaced actual street cars with our shoes, using terminology that applied to both. Buyer visits at our trade shows doubled and, when our sales reps called buyers for appointments, they started hearing “Oh, yeah, we saw your ads in Footwear News.” Once we opened the Nordstrom account, we rolled out a similar consumer ad in regional editions of GQ Magazine, tagged with the Nordstrom logo.
Our men’s shoes were so comfortable, we just needed men to try them on. We created a marketing program to sell-in to new retailers by driving consumer demand. Newsweek had a predominantly male subscriber base and a new technology: they could open the magazine to our ad and inkjet a message personalized to the individual subscriber.
We customized our Newsweek ad with both the subscriber’s name and the closest Street Cars retailer. They were offered a free sport watch just for trying on a pair of our shoes. 300 new independent shoe stores and both Nordstrom and Macy’s nationwide became Street Cars retailers because they wanted to be in on the program.
Footwear News ran a story about this promotion right before the shoe show. There were buyers lining up outside our booth hoping to get in on the program. This promotion really put Street Cars shoes on the map.
01
One of the most beautiful hotels we marketed for New England Development/Nantucket Island Resorts was The Wauwinet. Its dreamy, remote setting appealed to a particular type of guest who craved the serene beauty of an out-of-the-way resort. I wrote The Wauwinet’s brochure to evoke a special feeling with poetic language that described the Inn’s selling points and mirrored the gorgeous photography.
02
We were having trouble finding writers who could deliver the goods for The Woodstock Inn’s quarterly guest newsletters, so I decided to give it a try. The client loved my first attempt so I kept on writing them. One of my favorite articles was about all the country stores in the area. I interviewed all the owners and learned what made each store special.
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During COVID, I pitched to a reporter for the Worcester Telegram the idea of writing a round-up article regarding leadership during crisis. The president of our firm was featured along with a dozen other business leaders. The Worcester Business Journal promptly responded with their Leadership issue package, in which we ran this Ad.