Services

Marketing consultation, including workshops and meeting facilitation

Ideation/brainstorming, problem solving, consensus-building, plan-making, team-building.  I've done it all.  And so far, no fisticuffs, no yelling, no bruised egos (that I know of).

Project design and management

My research and project management beast is the ultra-precise unicorn.  With a whip.  Yes, we do exist. Finding the best method is what I do best - with the big picture in sight.  Then persistent, not annoying, follow-up for strict schedule adherence - makes the world go 'round.

Advertising account leadership

Having lived on both the client and agency sides of the proverbial fence has its benefits - understanding what creatives need to create brilliant work, and understanding what clients need to approve it, to feel loved and to want the agency contract to last forever.

Portfolio planning, new product development

It’s a dirty job,  but I actually love it.  From concept through positioning, understanding un-met customer needs is critical, and the vetting process can be tricky.  My approach combines creative, resourceful data gathering and the right primary research methods to insure the correct path.

Naming and tag lines

I don't have a proprietary process for identity development.  I don't see it as some scientific black box with templated inputs that spit out ideas.  My approach is different for each client, depending on needs and category.  And it works.  I have created differentiated positioning and names for hundreds of successful products.

Go-to-market plans

Creating and managing the route to market requires cross-functional understanding and experience:  manufacturing through packaging design and supply chain to launch planning and budgets.  Its complicated and daunting.  I pride myself in a disciplined, gant-charted, accountability-built-in approach that make it easy on clients.

Research design, execution and analysis.  Qual & quant, explicit & observed.

I appreciate and have deep experience in the solid traditional methods - focus groups, surveys, polls and the like.  They still have their place.  But the research world is rapidly changing, and panels becoming less and less reliable sources of data.  I stay on top of the new methods - VR, customer communities, mobile - to recommend the solution appropriate for each research goal and audience.

Focus group moderation 

When I say I am a complete research solution - I'm not kidding.  I have fielded and moderated qualitative research for more than 20 years, and have tackled some of the toughest respondents - from snoring husbands to middle aged men with sexual issues.  Yep, I moderated THOSE groups.

Large-scale event strategy and management

Project management on steroids, with zero margin for error and one shot at perfection - that's events.  I've concepted, themed, planned and managed events from 500 to 5000 people.  PinPt. events are flawless, because I expect the worst, and implement layered back-up plans.  Event paranoia serves me well.