Analytic & Strategic Skills

In the marketing/advertising business, I have sometimes been called upon to write 'white papers' analyzing a particular market or an approach to that market. In the worlds of politics and institutions, I have been called upon to analyze conditions and suggest strategy.

In creating political messages, the first rule is similar to Hippocrates' 'first do no harm' medical oath. That means crafting your message in such a way that it cannot be used against you, because if an opponent can do so, they will. (You might be surprised at how many politicians shoot themselves in the foot in exactly this way.)

The institutional and corporate worlds are often surprisingly unaware of the dangers lurking outside their walls. The newspaper clipping shown here is a case in point. Stevens Institute (based in Hoboken, NJ) was being blackmailed by the town's mayor (Anthony Russo) to participate in a real estate scheme. Desperate for help, the Institute appealed to a couple of area politicians. The move probably seemed logical to the Institute's politically-naive president (Hal Raveche), but when these pols ran a campaign to oust Russo, they made this private meeting public knowledge. This put the Institute very much at risk (Russo held supreme power in Hoboken at that time), and the deeply chagrined Raveche was forced to publicly disavow all knowledge of such a meeting.

Russo was eventually ousted from office (in a campaign I orchestrated) and subsequently indicted on various counts. (It is usually only after losing power that a politician can be indicted in Hudson County, NJ.) Stevens hired me as a consultant shortly afterward, and I advised them on such matters.