Summary:
Whitney Vosburgh, a strategic branding and marketing consultant, asks every client: "What business are you really in?" A crystal-clear answer, he says, is the key to maximizing ROI and market value. For 20 years Whitney has been applying his domestic and international expertise in strategic planning, marketing, communications, and management consulting to effective campaigns for clients in the automotive, e-commerce, entertainment/media, finance/insurance, food/beverage, high tech, healthcare, publishing, technology, telecommunications, and travel/transportation industries. Organizations that have benefited from his efforts include American Express, Apple, AT&T, Avis, BBC, Chase Manhattan Bank, Chevron, Chrysler, Discovery Channel, Hilton, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Lufthansa, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Merck, Nabisco, New York Stock Exchange, Parkway Hospital/Mt. Sinai, Pepsi, Pfizer, Polaroid, Procter & Gamble, United Nations, U.S. Mint, Wall Street Journal, Walt Disney and many successfully launched start ups. During the 1992 Olympics, Whitney was a special consultant to Merrill Lynch in North America and Europe on their sponsorship and corporate identity programs for the Games. His creative training is from the Parsons School of Design in New York (BFA), St. Martin's School of Art in London, the International Center of Photography in Paris, and the Hanna-Barbera School of Animation in Hollywood.
Specialties:
CLARITY CONSULTANT: Making sense of chaos, spotting trends and patterns where others cannot, creating insights and applications through strategic planning, branding, marketing and communication consulting; visioning, positioning and messaging; value and unique selling propositions; executive coaching and organizational development for small and large companies who think big and want a better bottomline and a better world.
- Strategy, Branding, Marketing and Communications
- Positioning, Differentiation, Messaging and Targeting
- Brand and Information Design and Architecture
- Executive Coaching and Organizational Development
- Brandguru, Ideapreneur and Advisor
Agency Experience:
American Express Direct, Ammirati Puris Lintas Direct, Armada Global PR, BBDO, Beaumont Bennett, Blue Skies PR, BMG Direct, Chiat/Day Direct, Citibank Direct, Columbia House Direct, Cymbic Interactive, DDB, DIMAC Direct, DoubleDay Direct, Frankel, Gillespie, Grey, Grey Direct, Grey Entertainment, Grey Healthcare, Harrison Wilson, Harte Hanks Direct, Informative, Interbrand, Jordan McGrath Direct, Ketchum, Marke, Mediaplex, Miller/Huber, MWA Creative, Ogilvy & Mather Direct, Reader's Digest Direct, SF Interactive, Shugart Matson Young, Wolfe/Doyle, YAR
Professional Biography:
Whitney has been deeply involved in creating and managing effective and award winning branding, advertising, product marketing, direct marketing, sales promotion, collateral, identity, corporate communications, investor relations and interactive campaigns for technology companies, start ups, Fortune 500 companies and others. Whitney's value proposition is to maximize clients' ROI and market value through a three-fold combination of strategic planning expertise, marketing/communications skills and creative talent for brand new results.
Prior to starting his current consulting practice, he was consulting managing director and creative director of Chevron's marketing communication services unit at corporate headquarters in San Francisco. As a result of providing strategic marketing and management consulting services to internal clients and strategic partners worldwide, the unit's staff doubled, revenues tripled, profits quadrupled and awareness increased exponentially. He has since consulted for Advanced Technology Staffing, Auspex, BEA, Check Point Software Technologies, Charles Schwab & Co., Cisco, Consolidated Freightways, IBM, Kaiser Pernamente, Mediaplex, Neopost, Safeway, Siemens, SEMI, SF Interactive, Shell, SportPharma, State Fund, State Street Global Advisers, 3Com, VISA and various start ups.
In New York City, Whitney worked with a number of multinational advertising and marketing agencies such as Ammirati Puris Lintas Direct, Jordan McGrath Direct and Ogilvy & Mather Direct. He provided integrated marketing communications, consulting and creative services to IBM in North America, Europe and Latin America, as well as American Express, @Home, Compaq, Farsight.com, Jaguar, J&J, Juno.com, Kraft, Lufthansa, NYNEX, Ryder, Seagrams and TCI.
Before starting his consulting practice, he was president and creative director of Vosburgh International where he worked with consumer and business-to-business clients around the world. These clients included AIG, American Express, AT&T, Apple, Avis, British Telecom, Citibank, Ernst & Young, General Motors, Kraft, Lever, IBM, Reader's Digest, Shell and United Nations.
Prior to forming his own agency, Whitney was creative supervisor at Grey Direct and was responsible for strategy, brand character, concept and execution of television and print advertising, direct mail, collateral and sales promotion. His group worked on Bristol-Myers, General Foods, IBM, J&J, Merck, NYNEX, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble. In addition to Whitney's full time positions at DDB and Grey, he has consulted for BBDO, Chiat/Day, DIMAC, Frankel, Interbrand, and Harte-Hanks.
On the corporate side, he has worked directly for Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and American Express. He was a special consultant to Merrill Lynch in North America and Europe on their sponsorship promotions for the 1992 Olympics and corporate identity program.
Whitney graduated with a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design in New York City. He also studied at U.C. Berkeley, St. Martin's School of Art in London, International Center of Photography in Paris, the Hanna-Barbera School of Animation in Hollywood and the School of Visual Arts in New York. Believe it or not, he actually studied accounting before making the switch to communications.
He is a member of the board of Roti Systems Inc. and was recently interviewed by the magazine Brand Marketing on Internet brand research. Whitney is featured in two new books: "A New Brand of Expertise: How Independent Consultants Are Transforming the World of Work" by Marion McGovern, founder of M Squared Inc., and in "Free Agent Nation" by Dan Pink, a featured writer for Fast Company. He has a lifetime of international experience – he has worked, lived and studied in Europe, Asia and North America. He has traveled to over 35 countries and speaks American English, British English, some French and Spanish, and a touch of Dutch and Japanese. And he is currently studying Mandarin Chinese.
Client Experience List:
Apparel/Fashion
EXPRESS/The Limited
Labels For Less
Automotive
Chrysler
Ford
General Motors
Jaguar
Cosmetics/Fragrances
Avon
Bristol-Myers
Esteé Lauder
Geoffrey Beene
Helene Curtis
L'Oréal
Ponds
Shulton
Ecommerce
American Express
@Home
Berlex.com
Betseron.com
Calypte.com
CFN.com
Datingfaces.com
ePolicy.com
Farsight.com
IBMDirect.com
iClick.com
iExpert.com
Informative.com
Juno.com
Mediaplex.com
LivingAbroad.com
Quote.com
SelectQuote.com
YouDecide.com
Entertainment/Media
ABC Television
BMI
BBC
CBS Records
CBS/Fox Video
Columbia House/Sony
Discovery Channel
Metropolitan Opera
Radio Advertising Bureau
Time Life Video
Westinghouse/Group W
Walt Disney
Financial/Insurance
Aon
American International Group
Advanta
American Express, Cards &
ExpressNet @ AOL
BuySide
CalInsurance
Chase Manhattan Bank
Chemical Bank
Chevron Investor Relations
Citibank & Citicards
Coopers & Lybrand
Dean Witter
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
Dreyfuss
Drexel Burnham Lambert
ePolicy.com
Ernst & Young
Farsight.com
First of America Bank & Mortgages
First USA
Lehman Brothers
MasterCard
Merrill Lynch
Metropolitan Life
NationBank
New York Stock Exchange
Optima Card
Peat Marwick
Quote.com
State Street Global Advisers
Shearson Lehman Hutton
TIAA-CREF
US Treasury/US Mint
VISA
Washington Mutual
Wells Fargo
Food/Beverage
Barilla Pasta
Glenlivet
Kool-Aid
Kraft General Foods
Nabisco
Pepsi
Parmalat Milk
Pomidoro Sauces
Promax Bar
Puritan Oil
Safeway Select
Seven-Up
Swiss Chicken
The FruitGuys
Tropicana
Hospitality/Real Estate
Bovis
Cross & Brown
Leading Hotels
Hilton
Hyatt
Sheraton
Williams Real Estate
Industrial/Petroleum
Champion International
Chevron
Rockwell International
Shell
Non-Profit & Non-Government Organizations
Alta Bates Gallery and Hospital
American Red Cross
Berkeley Art Center
Berkeley Bridge Artists Group
Berkeley-Sakai Sister City Association
Building Alliance
California Pacific Medical Center
CARE
Catholic Relief Services
Central Park Zoo, New York
Chevron Charitable Contributions
City of Berkeley School System
Sakai City Government, Japan
Insanity House
International Planned Parenthood
Grow and Give
Guggenheim Museum
Kaiser Permanente
Manex
Memorial Sloan Kettering
MEPAC
Merrill Lynch Foundation
Mt. Sinai Medical Center
MultipleScelrosis.com
Network of Spiritual Progressives
New York Film Festival
Planned Parenthood
Peace Corps
Pro Arts Gallery
Raise the Nation
Richmond Art Center
Sutter Health
Tikkun
United Nations
University of California at Berkeley
UCSF Medical Center
Packaged Goods
Colgate-Palmolive
Combe
Lever
Polaroid
Philip Morris
Procter & Gamble
Shulton
Pharmaceutical/Healthcare
Berlex
Bristol Myers Squibb
California Pacific Medical Center
Calypte.com
Johnson & Johnson
Kaiser Permanente
Latin American Medical Group
Memorial Sloan Kettering
Merck
MultipleScelrosis.com
Oxford Healthcare
Parkway Hospital/Mt. Sinai
Pfizer
Pulmonary Associates
Sandoz
Siemens Medical
Sutter Health
UCSF Medical Center
Professional Services
American Management Association
A.T. Kearney
Booz Allen & Hamilton
Coopers & Lybrand
Ernst & Youmg
Future U
Manex Consulting
Peat Marwick
Publishing
Architectural Digest
Baby Talk
Book-0f-the-Month Club
Bon Appetit
BuySide
Discovery
DM News
Doubleday
Fortune
IMP
JP Lippincott
Newbridge Communications
Newsweek
New York Post
Reader’s Digest
Self
Time Magazine
Time-Mirror Magazines
Travel Holiday
TV Guide
United Media
US News & World Report
Van Nostrand Reinhold
Venture Magazine
Wall Street Journal
Technology
Apple
Auspex
BEA Systems
Check Point Software Technologies
Chevron Technology
Compaq
IBM
Lexmark
Lotus
Neopost
3Com
Telecommunications
@Home
AT&T
Bell Atlantic
British Telecom
Juno.com
Mobilcomm
NYNEX
New York Telephone
OpenGrid
SNET
TCI/People Link
Travel/Transportation
Alitalia
Avis
Consolidated Freightways
Lufthansa
Rockwell International
Ryder
TNT
