Selling a design firm using humor. 

During my many years as a principal in the New York design firm of Ross Culbert & Lavery, I was responsible for developing most of the firm’s self-promotion. From Frisbees to beach towels to seed packets and more, humor was the secret ingredient that ensured the piece avoided the circular file.

 

Among the most anticipated promotion we did was a year-end blank notebook, which contained a satirical introduction riffing on current events and pop culture – from The Nine Circles of New York Hell to our Post-Pluto Universe to A Thousand Years of History in Review, which ushered in the new Millennium.

 

The books became so popular and sought-after over the 25 years we published them that clients often called in November to make certain they were still on our gift list.