Your concepts.
I'll improve your ideas and add my own.
I’ll make your work
better. Fast.
Give me the deck, the concepts, the copy or the pitch you've got. I'll find what's missing, sharpen what's working and push the whole thing further—in one day.
When good isn’t good enough.
For more than 20 years, I’ve been the freelance creative that experiential agencies bring in when the work has to be better. I’m the person behind the scenes helping sharpen the idea, fix the deck, strengthen the pitch or find the line that finally makes it all click. Dozens of agencies. Hundreds of clients. Award-winning work. And a long history of making good work noticeably better.
Agency Owners, Creative Directors and Project Managers bring me in:
When the work is
not quite there yet.
When the deck has to go out
tomorrow.
When everyone's been looking at it
too long.
I will fix what's not working.
Your deck.
I'll sharpen the story, headlines and ideas.
Your copy.
I'll make it tighter and harder to ignore.
Your pitch.
I'll sharpen the story and ideas to help you win.
Work made better.
Diageo Whiskey
A small assignment that opened a very big door.
Diageo’s headquarters was across the street from my client’s office, and the agency was determined to get its foot in that door.
They finally landed a small assignment and brought me in. Diageo wanted retailers to rebuild their displays around all of its whiskey brands—which was a lot to ask.
I dug into the research and noticed something simple: the five most relatable flavors associated with whiskey all started with S. That became The Whiskey 5—an easy way to make a complicated category understandable, memorable and shoppable.
The agency ran with it. The brand managers took it to the C-suite. And what started as a small assignment became the biggest program investment in Diageo’s history.
After that, the door was wide open.
3,500+retailers bought in
$15Mincremental gross profit
40%whiskey sales lift
6 moreDiageo programs that year + an Effie
Aflac
A pivot that became a Hollywood film.
My client had a unique challenge: create an experience that communicated the value of Aflac’s insurance during the pandemic—when live experiences were impossible.
Everyone was glued to their phones, so we decided to turn content into the experience. I brainstormed with the agency team, helped create a story that felt right for the moment, and quickly wrote a script.
The client loved it and gave us the green light. The agency brought in Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rob Edwards and Grammy-winning artist Nas to help bring the story we had created to life.
The film took on a life of its own, and was watched, and passed along, by millions of people.
The agency was nice enough to give me my first Hollywood credit.
16Msocial impressions
63earned media placements
17ptlift in Aflac awareness
Multiplefilm-festival awards and selections
Cincoro Tequila
A tagline that became the brand’s platform.
My client emailed me. They were presenting taglines to Michael Jordan and his four partners the next day, but they weren't feeling it—and this was round 2.
I spent the afternoon writing about 100 taglines and sent the agency my best 25. They liked a lot of them. But one stood out.
Michael and his partners felt the same way. After a short discussion, they did something clients almost never do: they bought the tagline in the presentation.
Those three words became the platform the agency used to build the brand. About $1,000 of my time ultimately returned more than 100 times that amount to the agency.
And I got a really nice bottle of tequila as a thank you.
100taglines written that afternoon
25best lines sent to the agency
1tagline bought in the room
100×+return to the agency on my time
Simple pricing
You choose how much help you need.
Half-Day Sprint
$500
A concentrated burst of senior creative thinking for concepts, copy, decks, pitches, campaign development or whatever needs to get better.
Reserve Half-Day — $500 →Full-Day Rescue
$900
For the bigger push: the presentation is looming, the team is stuck, or the assignment needs enough attention to materially change where it lands.
Reserve Full Day — $900 →“His writing skills are only second to his concepting and brainstorming skills. Steven is my first call when I need help.”
— Dan Streety, Executive Creative Director
“We appreciate the lack of ‘hand-holding’ needed… he just gets it.”— Ted Keifer, Creator & Concept Director
“He helped us deliver a proposal that was immediately elevated to the C-level.”— Melinda Cragan Lindland, Managing Director