Scott Brown was a part of the problem.  Fresh out of college in the 70’s and having grown up in a family printing and newspaper company, he began his career at an old manufacturing company in Milwaukee that was essentially going out of business.

The company was Harley-Davidson.  The people were wonderful but their products were faulty, the distribution was unhappy, and the banks were restless.  Layoffs.  Then more layoffs.  But somehow he managed to keep his job while adding to it a few others.

Being young is no excuse.  He was part of the problem for he thought his job was to promote the company’s product – motorcycles.  He thought he could take a better picture or write a better headline and somehow the sales problem could be cured.  The truth is he didn’t know better.

Fortunately, there were some who did.  And in desperation, the company morphed its marketing energies from selling motorcycles to delivering motorcycling – the verb.  And it worked. 

The lessons learned were real.  Eventually Brown became a partner of the very agency that helped shift Harley-Davidson from a banking liability to a Wall Street darling.   His experience expanded working with global giants such as Motorola, Polaris, and Coleman among others. 

But the truth be told, he was not cut out for the big agency scene.  The work was challenging, but the scope was too narrow.  And way too slow. 

So he developed a better business model for both his clients and himself.  He assembles teams of well-seasoned creative, media, production and research partners on an as-needed basis.  Client contact and strategic direction are his primary responsibility which is a real advantage in keeping work focused, efficient and timely.