Decisions, not campaigns

My most meaningful work has occurred inside complex organizations, where brand must evolve beyond an identifying mark to be an engine of growth as

strategy, regulations, competition and circumstances constantly change.

The examples below are not campaigns or projects. They are decisions — moments in time when understanding the conceptual core of a brand allowed me to lead the organization to

adapt, endure, and grow without losing its center.

Together, they show how clarity enables conviction, and how brands becomes unstoppable

when they are grounded in essential truth.

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Medicine Of The Highest Order

Finding the conceptual core of a complex, mature brand

Strategic moment
A rebrand from Strong Health to the University of Rochester Medical Center was already underway and widely viewed as a visual update. I believed it required more — a narrative that could clarify the meaning of the change, inspire internal audiences, and help the community recognize the authentic and distinctive truth of the institution.

Without that context, the rebrand risked being questioned or dismissed as cosmetic.

Search
I immersed myself in the organization’s history and culture, including interviews with more than two dozen administrative, clinical, research, and education leaders. In a 1920 Rochester Times Union article University President Rush Rhees was quoted describing Rochester as a place to found “a medical school of the highest order,” I recognized that was the conceptual seed describing everything the medical center was and wanted to be.

Insight
I adapted the phrase into Medicine of the Highest Order, capturing two deeply held values: the commitment to deliver the best care medical science can offer, and the understanding that "highest” is an ever-advancing standard. At the same time, it was clear that patients and their families wanted that as much as the people of the medical center were devoted to delivering it.

Why it endured
The phrase became a conceptual center — adopted verbatim as the brand tagline and still in use today — because it described who the institution already believed itself to be and the obligation it felt to continually rise to its own standards.

UR Medicine

Evolving a brand system when the strategic ground shifts

Strategic moment
The Affordable Care Act fundamentally reshaped healthcare. As URMC expanded employed physicians and regional affiliations, our CEO articulated the need clearly: “We must be known as a system, not a place.”

Our brand communicated the opposite.

Search
Market research confirmed the problem. At the same time, the solution had to be understood as part of University of Rochester's overarching equity and differentiate from our strongest regional competitor who was also rebranding.

The shorthand UR was already universally understood locally — and its homonym, You Are, opened the door to a more human, affirming expression of system care.

Insight
We created UR Medicine, supported by a unified identity system and a “You Are” messaging platform that reinforced both system-ness and humanity while creating a meaningful mnemonic.

Why it endured
UR Medicine clearly conveyed a system of care, preserved university identity, differentiated competitively, and provided a flexible, inspiring platform that continues to scale.

UR Medicine Redesigned

Using brand clarity when outside pressure creates urgency

Strategic moment
COVID forced the closure of non-critical care and created a financial risk of roughly $300M per month. When reopening was approved, delayed care had become its own danger, and patient confidence had to be restored quickly.

Constraint
Budgets were minimal. Turnaround was immediate. Social distancing made traditional production impossible.

Insight
Because Medicine of the Highest Order was already established, the answer wasn’t a new idea — it was an extension: UR Medicine Redesigned.

Why it endured
A low-cost animated series made safety visible and demonstrated what the brand stood for in crisis. Patient volumes rebounded much faster than projected, and the system returned to full operation and financial stability two months ahead of schedule — all while strengthening brand equity under pressure.

Upstate Farms - Taste The Freshness

Finding a brand's center of gravity to compete in a declining category

Strategic moment
In a category facing long-term decline, Upstate Farms needed branded milk to command margin, not just presence.

Search
Immersion in leadership conversations and operations revealed a single operational obsession: freshness. Speed, efficiency, and care defined everything from collection at the farm to packaging to the grocery shelf.

Insight
If freshness mattered that much operationally, it could be tasted.
The idea became Taste the Freshness.

Why it endured
The concept won market research 2:1 over alternatives and was adopted across all packaging, fleet graphics, and advertising — giving the brand a clear, scalable center of gravity.