You have to start somewhere.

You have to start somewhere.

by | May 4, 2016 | Case Studies, Free Lunch Blog

The Science Museum of Minnesota

Almost 30 years ago to the day, I started my advertising and marketing career with an internship at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  Under the tutelage of Art Director Mark Odegard, I learned how to design, how to think in terms of visitor engagement and how to produce work that a team of people could rally behind.  The first major work that I was involved with was for a show called, Dinosaurs!

Complete with animatronic dinos, fossils, complete skeletons and an array of interactive exhibits, the show became the largest the museum had ever put on.  We even sailed the Apatosaurus down the Mississippi on a barge! Talk about some PR value!  Artwork that I created found it’s way on to t-shirts, shopping bags, outdoor billboards and more.  To this day, it is one of my fondest memories.  No wonder I took to my work and have kept at it for all these years!

Today’s Science Museum of Minnesota has a new brand, built in with the equity of so many patrons, visitors and employees who made it all happen.  The visit is well worth it.

Claim Your No.1 Spot (even if your 14th)

Claim Your No.1 Spot (even if your 14th)

by | Jan 5, 2016 | Case Studies, Free Lunch Blog

O’Neil Cannon

Not many agencies get the “green light” with a new client by “dissing” the two principals at the firm… but that’s what happened with O’Neil Cannon Hollman DeJong & Laing.  At the time, the firm was O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman & DeJong.

“I told them that they should change the name to O’Neil Cannon because that’s all anyone would remember.  Too bad Mr. Hollman, Mr. DeJong  and Mr. Laing were the remaining partners in the firm!  I suspect they appreciated the honesty… it certainly wasn’t my good looks that won them over.”

O’Neil was the 14th largest law firm in Milwaukee, but their track record of success was as good, if not better, than any other law firm in town — and the firms larger than they seemed to be preoccupied with becoming the strongest firm in the region — abdicating their claim on the city.  By presenting O’Neil as the premier law firm in town, it didn’t matter that the number of lawyers they had was much smaller, they simply needed to appear as strong as their larger counterparts to win their own backyard.

You see, if no one else will stake a claim in an area of your expertise, even if you are much smaller in size, your stature needn’t be.  Go ahead and claim it… BUT, you better be prepared to back it up, and for the level of your brand to be on par, if not greater, than any other in the marketplace.  That’s where JSH&P can deliver results.

JSH&P provided consultive services to the firm of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing, along with full agency services including print advertising, brand development, web design/production and collateral and promotional design.