We Get The
Job Done.
Our advisors specialize in serving individuals and organizations during defining moments. We help leaders make communications decisions that will mitigate threats to brand equity, increase bargaining power, and protect license to operate.
We are known for creative aggression and we routinely defy convention to achieve our clients' goals.
Areas of Expertise
As veteran strategic communications professionals, we have developed expertise in virtually every discipline and situation for practically every industry under the sun. However, like trapeze artists or big wave surfers, we thrive in more complex special situations. We do our best work when the stakes and the degree of difficulty are higher and there's no room for error.
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Specialties:
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Reputation Enhancement & Protection
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Crisis & Issues Navigation
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Litigation Communications
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Social & Shareholder Activism
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Competitive Depositioning
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Government & Regulatory Affairs
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Intelligence & Opposition Research
Service Offerings
First and foremost, we believe in the maxim that it's far better to teach someone to fish than to give someone a fish. We do our best to help clients build independent capacity rather than become reliant on an external consultant. We engage with clients at various levels depending on need, from discrete projects to extended campaigns. We custom design each engagement for the specific needs of the client with a focus on outcomes - not outputs.
The offerings below can be designed as standalone projects or integrated together depending on need.
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Intelligence & Strategic Insights
Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
- Sun Tzu
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Our network of advisors includes globally recognized research experts, presidential advisors, seasoned investigators, and behavioral scientists representing more than a century of experience uncovering insights that contribute to winning strategies. We work to understand your objectives, your audiences, and their motivators and design bespoke plans that elicit the desired result.
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Messaging, Narrative & Content
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. - Verbal Kint
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Understanding your audience and what they think allows us to develop emotional messages that persuade with predictability and consistency. Changing hearts and minds contributes to changed behaviors. Weaving a dramatic narrative will lead people to understand your story and support your position. Delivering compelling content that brings the story to life with heroes, villains, tension, and resolution will leave a lasting impact and drive action.
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Relationship & Influence Development
Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. - Rick Blaine
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They say that allies are those who will stand behind you and support, but friends are the ones who will stand out in front of you and defend you when the times get tough. We know that it's essential to make friends and allies before you need them. From influential media outlets, to think tanks, industry groups, admired NGOs, or regulatory bodies, we work with clients to identify potential friends and allies and help foster mutually beneficial long-term relationships. Regardless of objective, we are confident that our network of advisors puts you within four degrees of separation from anyone who matters in the world.
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Risk Evaluation & Preparedness
When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully. - Samuel Johnson
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A crisis is not the time for original thought. In this age of social media when due process and burden of proof are quaint relics of a bygone era, valuable reputation equity can be lost in an instant. Our proprietary RISKULATOR methodology enables individuals to assess their vulnerability and put systems in place to mitigate risk and prepare for the worst before it happens. We all know that hope is not a strategy. Identify the risks, plan the work, and work the plan.
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Crisis & Issue Response
Toluca Lake. It's thirty minutes away. I'll be there in ten.
- Winston Wolfe
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Under duress, when emotions are running high, making rational decisions can be impossible. Having a trusted partner at your side who has been there before and has the wisdom to guide you can be invaluable. Our network of advisors includes leaders who have been on the forefront of some of the most high pressure, high profile crises in modern history. From reputational challenges to regulatory threats or marketplace assaults, our seasoned teams provide cool-headed counsel to help suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. We believe that throwing spears is always more fun than catching them.
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Organizational Design & Optimization
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Aristotle
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A high performing communications team that understands its objective and works together efficiently and effectively toward the common good is a rarity. We have a long track record of working with complex organizations across the spectrum of industries to analyze and optimize communications teams. We scrutinize teams through a filter of goals, plan, mindset, structure, and talent and provide recommendations for enhancing the team to improve outcomes.