for companies and people who want to stand out.

The Redhead Companies is a marketing firm. And then some. Our job is to help you make an impact. Not a small impact, a very big one. We are part advertising agency, part web development firm, part brand strategists, part research firm, part media company, plus a couple of unexpected parts that add to the power of the mix.

Welcome to Inside Outside.

When you strip away all of the business and marketing buzz words that get tossed around more frequently these days than a Frisbee on a college campus, branding is very simple. A brand either resonates or it doesn’t. You know it. You feel it. You understand it. You buy it. Or you don’t. Getting a brand to resonate is the challenging part. Challenging and fun. At Redhead, we maintain for a brand to truly be successful in the outside world where your customers are, it first has to be lived and breathed inside, where you and your people are. So we partner with our clients on Inside – Outside marketing.

Executive and Team Coaching.

The Inside part starts with you, the owner or leader or CEO. Whatever your title, you know who you are. So, leaders, meet Ed Stern. He’s CEO of Redhead Companies and our leader. Been that for 20 years. He’s also a Co-Active Coach who firmly believes that every person is capable of magnificent things. And sometimes magnificence has to be dragged out, yanked out, coaxed out, fooled out, teased out, invited out, shocked out, shouted or whispered out. As a coach, he works with leaders and teams to bring out the magnificence in them. Ask Ed what kind of people he works with and he’ll say, “Bright people who have everything going for them but just get stuck. These people are confident and capable, resourceful, creative. And they’re smart enough and have enough humility to know it’s easier to get unstuck when a professional coach is working with them. Nobody needs a coach, but, whoa, anything is possible when you work with one.” And Ed is really good. So, part one of Inside is, if you so choose, to work one-on-one with Ed. Or introduce him to another senior executive or maybe a rising star. Or open up your leadership team to coaching. It will be intense, passionate, maybe even frightening. In the end it will be the best thing you ever did.

Redhead Branding Workshops.

But it’s not enough. Next, you need to make sure a brand resonates with every single person in your organization or anyone who represents your organization. This is where our Redhead Branding Workshops make a difference. We conspire with you and your managers to create a program that infiltrates the brand through every department, every employee. You know this: Your brand is as strong as the person who answers the phone. The guy who drives a truck with your name on it. The newest, most raw rookie and the most grizzled veteran. Branding internally is how you speak with one another, conduct meetings, do employee reviews, celebrate successes and deal with (or learn from) failures. Our workshops start with brand clarity. Using a branding strategy that incorporates archetypes we make certain the brand is understood and embraced. Then we put a plan together that incorporates your current system and maybe a few new tricks to guarantee that your brand trickles down to every nook and cranny of your organization. We start with the meta-view and then get down to tactics, accountability, results. We make these workshops fun, engaging, and flexible. We facilitate and lead and guide, but the real power comes from your group’s participation. Then…

… You’re ready for Outside.

The coming outside party for your brand is about how you speak it person to person and how it shows up in your mass communications. A brand isn’t a logo, but a logo is a brand. The one you have now might be perfectly, well, perfect. But if we determine together that it’s time for a change, then we’re really good at them. Same with advertising, television, radio, outdoor, collateral, direct mail. And of course, everything interactive including your website, banner ads, landing pages, PPC campaigns, and social media ventures. For 20 years the “outside” has been the magical place we’ve helped our clients stand out. We do strategic planning, media planning and negotiating, and provide complete creative services. Together with our clients, we always find a way to clarify and simplify even the most complex messages into the most basic human truths. Because it is there where brands sell.

That’s Inside – Outside Marketing. Call Ed, Jane, Paula, or Jeff at 410-465-1282 or email to ed@redheadcompanies.com.  We look forward to having the opportunity to talk about it with you. In here… or out at our place.

Why the name Redhead?

It’s true that our fearless leader has red hair, but the reason we call ourselves Redhead goes far beyond that fact. Think about the life of a redhead. In the early years, they face embarrassment and taunting due to a preponderance of freckles and sunburns. At eight and nine, redheads can’t help but stand out. And at that age it's the last thing they want to do. But after a few years, something happens. Redheads begin to realize it’s pretty cool to have red hair. Suddenly, standing out is a good thing. So instead of hiding and trying to fit in, redheads start to embrace their uniqueness and make the most of being different. Guess what? That's what marketing is all about. It's about being different. Showing up. Being seen. Standing out. And it's about doing it in a way that is refreshing, open, honest and not the least bit arrogant. We believe that if you want to stand out, you should be proud about standing out. Because once you do, your customers will stand up and take notice. So we take a redhead approach to all of our work. Our clients do as well. It means thinking differently and continually finding ways to break through the incredible clutter of messages that we’re all bombarded with on a daily basis.

Maybe you’ve heard of Stern.

Redhead got its start as The Stern Agency. We officially changed our name on July 31, 2005. Since 1991, as the Stern Agency, we’ve had the privilege of helping a long list of clients market their products and services. Changing from Stern to Redhead was an enormous decision, but we took the step because we want our clients, associates, colleagues, and everyone else to know that, without a doubt, we have not settled into a business-as-usual approach to what we do. In fact, quite the opposite. Changing our name to the Redhead Companies represents a commitment to have more impact than ever on the world around us.

We’re plural “companies”  because we’re comprised of a number of important parts. There is so much going on today that one form of communication isn’t enough to deliver a message. Some people never pick up a paper. Others “TiVo” through commercials. And, hard to believe, not everyone surfs the web. It takes all of it. Besides that, we have a feeling that we're not done evolving. The pace of change is so fast these days that to stay ahead and to keep our clients on top it will require us to continually add new services. Under the “companies” umbrella we'll be able to do that.