LUCID BRANDS

How do you choose a branding firm? There are so many to choose from. Thousands have helped create and evolve great brands. Many have diverse and beautiful portfolios. Some have storied pasts. But how do you choose? When we’ve asked that question of clients over the years, the responses have been remarkably consistent. “We want a firm that really wants our business.” “We need to work with the most experienced partners, not just hear them pitch.” “We demand people that are driven to make every engagement a success—no matter what the obstacles.” “We like clarity, honesty, and a sense of humor.” “We seek a good ‘fit’ with our culture and mission.”

Is Lucid Brands the right branding firm for you? Maybe. We’re one of the most experienced and dedicated corporate branding firms you’ll find. We work with giant-, mid-, and mini-sized organizations. But you’ll only know if we’re ‘the one’ if we talk and get to know each other. Our promise? We will try to understand who you are and what you need to accomplish. We will find and amplify the compelling truth at the heart of your brand. If we aren’t the right people to help, we will recommend someone that can.

Send us a note and we will get right back to you. Thanks, Scott Lerman, Founding Partner.

We work with clients across industries and the world to create, evolve, and revitalize their brands.

Most of our initial assignments are sparked by critical moments of opportunity and challenge—mergers and acquisitions, entry into new markets, competitive pressures, technological innovation, and other forms of substantive change. Once those programs are complete, we often become a long-term partner in the management and creation of new opportunities for the growth of brand value.

Our expertise spans the definition, modeling, and implementation stages of strategic corporate branding programs. We deliver insightful, true, and powerful ideas. We prototype and validate alternative brand strategies. We build robust identity and communications programs that bring brand strategy to life. And we know how to effectively engage corporate leadership, employees, channel partners, customers, investors, and other key audiences in the process of change.

Experience

Communications/Media

  • Click Radio
  • Cordiant
  • ESPN Zone
  • Golden Books
  • Good Housekeeping
  • NAZCA
  • PRIMEDIA
  • Reader’s Digest
  • Scholastic
  • Society of American Travel Writers
  • The Weather Channel
  • Ziff-Davis

Financial

  • Acordia
  • American Express
  • Banc One
  • Banco BHD
  • Banco Natwest
  • Banco Nacional
  • Bank of Nova Scotia
  • Butterfield Bank
  • Caja España
  • Chubb
  • Citibank
  • DirectAdvice.com
  • First Data
  • Lincoln Life
  • MBNA
  • Mellon Bank
  • Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
  • National Australia Bank
  • NationsBank
  • PNC Bank
  • Scudder
  • S.W.I.F.T.
  • The New England
  • The Principal
  • Toronto Dominion
  • TreasuryPoint.com

Government/Nonprofit

  • American Medical Association
  • America’s Second Harvest
  • Bronx Green-Up
  • Carnegie-Mellon
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Design Management Institute
  • Fannie Mae
  • Starshine Academy
  • The Washington Center
  • TSA
  • US Mint

Industrial/Manufacturing

  • 3M
  • Boldt
  • BP
  • Caterpillar
  • Cemex
  • Dexter
  • DuPont
  • Engelhard
  • Finning
  • Hoechst Celanese
  • J.P. Stevens
  • O-I (Owens-Illinois)
  • Schlumberger
  • W. W. Grainger
  • Zachry

Leisure/Travel/
Entertainment

  • American Express
  • DisneyQuest
  • New Zealand Trade and Tourism
  • XseeksY.com
  • VOIS

Pharma/Health

  • Bayer
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield (FL)
  • Cardinal Health
  • Foresters
  • Genesis Health Ventures
  • Life Technologies
  • MDS
  • Novartis
  • Pfizer
  • United Health Group

Retail/Apparel

  • Cat Rental Store
  • Concave Sports
  • Cotapaxi
  • JCPenny
  • LYCOShop
  • PETsMART

Services

  • AppliedTheory
  • A. T. Kearney
  • Blueflame
  • CommonHealth
  • Earthborn
  • EDS
  • Ernst & Young
  • Ewing Cole
  • Impact Unlimited
  • Pricewaterhouse Coopers
  • Reciprocal
  • Towers Perrin
  • TRW

Technology

  • 3Com
  • Allied Signal
  • Apple
  • AMD
  • Digital
  • Groupe Bull
  • Kodak
  • National Semiconductor
  • VOIS
  • Xerox

Telecommunications

  • 360° Communications
  • Asia Netcom
  • AT&T
  • Bell Canada
  • Call Sciences
  • NORTEL
  • NYNEX

Transportation

  • Avis
  • Enterprise Rent-A-Car
  • Federal Express
  • Harley-Davidson
  • MTA
  • Ryder

Utilities/Energy

  • Access Energy
  • Mobil
  • PSE&G

We measure success by the success of our clients.

When I was CEO of National Semiconductor, I had the pleasure of working with Scott Lerman and his team on refreshing the identity of this worldwide brand that had gotten a little stale. It was one of the highlights of my career and I cannot think of how it could have gone better. — Gil Amelio

Some of my greatest successes in the corporate world were a result of Scott’s steadiness, his brilliance and his deep understanding of what makes people tick, from the shop floor to the CEO’s office. I wouldn’t undertake a major branding challenge without him. — Margo Barnes, retired
VP, Corporate Affairs, Capital Holding
VP, Corporate and Public Affairs, PNC Bank
SVP, Corporate Communications, Bayer

Spectacular job! — Billy Baci
Global Marketing Director
Concave Sports

Scott headed up the Siegel & Gale team to help create a single ‘Voice’ for Caterpillar. With his involvement on many strategic projects, he has helped build long lasting solutions and a new appreciation throughout the company for the value of strategic brand management. — Bonnie Briggs
Manager Corporate Identity
Caterpillar
(Now leading b.onbrand)

I had the personal experience of working with Scott Lerman on the total re-branding of CommonHealth—one of the largest healthcare marketing services networks in the world. Throughout this dynamic process, Scott and his team proved to be remarkably smart, facile and focused, helping us make rapid and dramatic progress in our understanding of the challenges at hand, the various strategic and creative possibilities and, finally, the executional elements required to pull off such a lofty, complex initiative. — Matt Giegrich
CEO, Ogilvy CommonHealth

Scott has that rare capability to combine branding finesse with a keen sense of brutal business realities. He interprets, creates, translates and executes. I would want him on my team’s side versus the opposition in any marketplace battle. — Steve McCracken
CEO, Owens-Illinois

Scott Lerman and his team were a critical ingredient in the brand development process and successful launch for NationsBank (now Bank of America). He brought a unique combination of creativity and real world problem solving to the program which allowed us to meet all our critical milestones for the launch of this new national brand. — Van Perry
SVP, Brand Manager, NationsBank and Bank of America
(Now Director of Global Marketing, TUI Marine)

I am a huge fan of your work. — Heidi Carney
VP Consumer Marketing
True Citrus

A view of the (branding) universe

Story by Scott Lerman, illustrations by Will Ayres*

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers let him go. Eeny, Meeny Miny, Moe. My mother said to pick the very best one and you are IT it. Do you ever think about how many branding firms are out there? How does an organization begin to choose whom to work with? Well Scott, I think they've got to start organizing them into groups Of course, there is global giant ... and there, man and a dog. But Global Giant has so many stars, you could imagine it's any shape you want! And Man and a Dog is just two stars. How does that add up to a full constellation? Well, with deep experience, some borrowed stars, and technology it is possible for a small firm to compete with goliaths. That's true. Scale isn't much an advantage anymore. There are lots of other possibilities - the Pioneer, Shiny New Industry Focus, The Inventor Maybe it would be easier if prospective clients looked at the work done by different firms. Good luck with that. Think about it, you and I have worked on significant brand programs for American Express. But so have hundreds of others. Each person, each firm, puts Amex into their client portfolio. So, what can we suggest to people who are trying to find the right branding firm? Eeny, Meeny, Miny ... Just kidding? First, I'd insist on talking to the project team, not the sales team. Okay, you are the global chairman of megabrand-Globe and you and pledge to lead my project! You will get my undivided attention! And just how many programs have you worked on? Dozens, no ... hundreds of programs Great, I'll just need contact information for my counterpart on your last five programs to learn more about what it's like to work with you. I think you've actually hit on three keys to finding the right firm. 1. Inisist on meeting propsective firms. RFPs and proposals aren't a substitute for face-to-face discussion. 2. Meet with the team you'll work with - not the super salespeople. 3. Talk with a range of references. And I'd like to add two more. Ask the team to talk in depth about a few projects they led, rather than show you dozens of beauty shots of other people's work. Probe, ask questions about how the work got done. Right, ask what went wrong and how they got things back on track. I'd be suspicious of programs that are too good to be true. And finally, make sure the firm really wants your business. Remember, mega-firms hope to meet budgets, smaller firms have to ... Will, we're biased. Our firms are small. But we've been there, done that We've made the right choice

* Will is a well-known creative director that collaborates with Scott Lerman on a brand commentary website—www.pulpbranding.com

Lucid Brands

I founded Lucid Brands to combine the sophistication of a global branding consultancy with the intense focus of a small firm. We accept a limited number of ambitious client engagements each year. I lead all projects and staff each program from a broad and deep pool of trusted and talented professionals. Quality, not quantity, drives our approach.

If you work with us you can be assured of three things. First, we will put you and your success first. Second, our team will be unmatched. Third, we will deliver more than we promise. Talk with us (then talk with some of our clients).

Scott Lerman

Our partners include:

About Scott Lerman

Scott Lerman

Scott Lerman is the CEO and founding partner of Lucid Brands. His unusually broad and deep experience in brand consulting, design and implementation, comes from over two decades as a strategist, creative director, and manager.

Before founding Lucid Brands in 2005 Scott led two of the world’s leading brand consultancies. During his 17 years at Siegel & Gale he held a range of senior positions, including President. In 2001 he was named President and CEO of Enterprise IG, Americas (now The Brand Union).

Scott serves on the graduate school faculty of the School of Visual Arts Masters of Professional Studies in Branding program. He has explored and commented on the issues shaping businesses and brands in The Design Management Review, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Identity, Revolution, and other publications, and before such diverse groups as DMI (where he is an advisory board member), AMA, AIGA (where he sits on the branding Chapter’s executive board), The Conference Board, Thunderbird, Apple, and J.P. Morgan.

At Lucid Brands we help our clients define their brands with clarity, build their story on truth, and reach their audiences with emotion.

Call us at 914-923-2435
or email me directly at:

Thank you.