case studies
The Partnership Fund for NYC
The Partnership Fund for New York City, which teams business leaders with entrepreneurs to spur job creation and economic growth, brought brandthis in to revamp all of its branding and marketing communications. brandthis recommended that as part of the endeavor they contemporize their logo and communicate their mission. brandthis went back to the fund's original communications and found 'a private fund with a civic mission' which we modernized along with a redesign of the current logo.
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai made a major investment in a group of doctors performing laparoscopic bariatric surgery on morbidly obese patients; however, there was a recognized need to increase awareness of and drive traffic to the program which faced significant competition in the New York market. Whereas competitors were promoting themselves based on success rates and using complex medical terminology, brandthis proposed that the Mt. Sinai group let some satisfied customers tell their stories, a strategy that led to unprecedented scheduled surgeries and a front-page article in the New York Times.
VAB
The VAB, which champions the power of premium video, had the opportunity to get in front of 2500+ top CMO's and agency executives at the ANA Masters of Marketing Conference. They were producing a state-of-the-art video player to showcase case studies and turned to brandthis to help optimize its impact.
brandthis knew that the messaging had to be disruptive and immediately grab the attendees' attention. We created a look that was bold and extremely contemporary. The copy was written to be provocative and surprising with the goal of both inciting the audience's competitive spirit and having them questions their current practices.
Feedback from the conference confirmed that the video player was a huge success. Based on this work, brandthis was awarded the complete rebranding of the VAB including a new logo, tagline, and complete website rebuild.
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society had recently celebrated its 100th anniversary when brandthis was asked to help evolve the iconic brand. ACS enjoyed very high awareness and brand equity; however, revenue was slipping quite significantly. After an extensive brand audit, brandthis developed a strategy and a creative framework that put people front and center. Marketing focused on telling stories - stories of research accomplishments, stories of survival, and stories of hope. The creative framework centered around emotion e.g. close up pictures of people fighting cancer - researchers, patients, and caregivers alike. The copy strategy shifted from organization centric to people centric. brandthis also partnered closely with team responsible for bringing in strategic partners. Here the evolution took the form of pitches being about the prospects and how an affiliation with ACS could further their business vs. vice versa. The shift in strategy was embraced by the organization.
design work
about us
Karen Ticktin
Karen Ticktin is Chief Bridge Builder at brandthis. She honed her creative and strategic skills as both the client and agency partner and has worked in both the not for profit and for profit sectors. Karen spent the early part of her career at Showtime Cable TV where she spearheaded the network’s branding and the organization’s Integrated Marketing efforts. Over the course of her career, Karen has planned and managed budgets ranging from $500k to $40mm, led staffs of up to 35, and won awards for marketing excellence. She is known for her ability to quickly translate strategy and complex information into content that is user-friendly and just plain works.
At the end of the day though, Karen is a bridge builder—building bridges between people, strategy and creative, facts and stories, brands and their audiences. Karen loves crossword puzzles and much prefers hard covered books. She is a graduate of Brown University.
about us
Nancy Hartner
Nancy Hartner is an experienced design professional at various institutions, including agency, corporate and non-profit environments. She is an innovative, passionate, decisive professional, with the ability to communicate successfully with clients, creative and production teams. Art direct campaigns, from concept through production, on time and within budget, in fast-paced environments. Excellent project management skills. Experienced with business development, marketing and communications, client relations and search engine optimization.
She received her BFA from The University of the Arts and completed her studies in Internet Marketing, receiving a Graduate Certificate. Nancy lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband, son, daughter and work buddy, Trooper, spending her free time at the baseball or softball fields.
