Welcome to A.D. Creative Group.

At the crossroads of smart and unexpected, what you get from working with us isn’t always what you thought you needed and what we deliver will be worth more than what you pay.

Our primary commitment is to the development of strong brands. Through research, consumer trending, strategy, media planning, advanced design and online development, we create impact and drive response within our client’s dedicated markets.

A brand is built over time. It’s not something that can be simply advertised and measured with clicks or promoted with a brochure. Knowing this, we’ve organized our team to function in a complete, lifecycle management capacity. Developing trusted, long-term partnerships with our clients to ensure their brands remain consistent and relevant over time and across markets.

As a comprehensive marketing firm, we serve as a complete resource to our clients. Acting as an extension of their business and supporting all levels of their organization from administration and strategic partnerships, to sales and C-Level business development. A.D. is a leader in all facets of internal and external marketing initiatives, helping clients identify what doesn’t work on the way to figuring out what does.

EXTRACTION

Our attitudes and actions in business are deeply rooted in our history, psyche, experiences and environment. Extraction is a means of questioning those established patterns of thought and rejecting the obvious. By doing this, we replace what has become stagnant with something bold and new.

A.D. developed Extraction to assist our clients answer their toughest questions such as: Who is my target audience? How do we reposition the organization for long-term growth? How do we increase visitors to the area? How do we make our internal operations more efficient? How do we communicate our value to potential clients more effectively?

Tailored specifically for each client, these sessions are highly collaborative, strategic and creative in nature. The results obtained appear in the form of insights: an understanding of the motivational forces behind one's actions, thoughts, or behavior. These insights relate to current market trends, target audience behavior and the specific concerns of the organization. Through extraction, these insights are translated into an actionable output that can then be disseminated through the many different outlets of the company and its marketing initiatives.

STRATEGY

What good is all that research if you don’t know what to do with the data? A.D. firmly believes in not only having a plan…but having a plan that is concise and can be executed against.

The goal is to keep searching for the breakthrough and to build strategies, which dramatically change impact. Halfway gets you nowhere so crossing boundaries is where we live and thrive.

“What used to be tried and true is now false. What used to work doesn’t any longer. It might be what you’ve always done but that doesn’t make it true, or right, or best. It just means that you’ve already tried it.” – Seth Godin

A NEW BRANDING BOLDNESS.

As the need for a new coffee culture has emerged, so has the need to be relevant in attracting a new audience. Off The Leaf was created in a highly competitive local market, in what would be called a challenging location. As hundreds of new coffee products are being marketed to the masses daily, it’s those that generate enough buzz that find their way into the fabric of an audience. The opportunity to design a bold experience, which interacts with multiple demographics, has lead the new brand to successfully balance a premium product with cultural acceptance. In this hyper setting, the future of coffee is being brewed. Local consumers view carefully grown, beautifully roasted, elegantly prepared coffee as both an indulgence and a good value.

A.D. Creative Group is currently working with Off The Leaf to update some of its interior pieces and signage features to reflect the company’s new initiatives and product offerings.

RESEARCH

We believe in exhaustive research followed by just a little more research. It is this dedication to doing the “behind the scenes” steps necessary in determining target-market demographics, the need for services/products, a product or services likelihood to sell, and trends in developing/existing industries.

Through our partnership with the leading global consumer research and advisory company, A.D. provides expert analysis and interpretation to deliver targeted insights on the behavioral mindset of consumers in the relevant demographics and categories. We combine this with our years of experience to provide clients with the most current and accurate survey of the landscape ahead.

POSITIONING

The approach we take to positioning brands is finding a space of your own, away from the clutter of the industry where your voice and unique positioning can be heard and seen. This is where we strive to position each of our clients. Differentiation is key to creating value.

A.D. guides clients in identifying what makes their organization unique. Because a brand that stands for what all brands stand for stands for nothing much at all.

EBMS approached A.D. with three specific challenges: How do we make our internal operations more efficient? How do we communicate our value to potential clients more effectively? How do we separate ourselves from other Third Party Administrators and position the organization for long-term growth? A.D. Creative Group recommended Extraction and led a group of 15-20 members of the client’s executive board through activities designed to address these questions. At the end of the session, we determined their unique White Space centered on their ability to improve total wellbeing rather than simply administer benefits. We realized if Wellbeing = Balance and EBMS = Wellbeing then the new positioning for the organization should be: The Benefit of Balance. The new communications both internal and external all revolve around synonyms for Balance to convey the benefits clients and members receive when they work with EBMS: Equilibrium, Harmony, Clarity, Stability, Symmetry, Synergy, Rhythm.

Rocky Mountain College’s mission statement articulates all Montana’s oldest institution of higher learning encompasses. RMC is a place full of tradition continuing to look towards the future and a place of worldwide diversity located in a private, personal setting in the heart of the American West. RMC is a place where distinguished education and life long relationships unite. The goal of the brand was to unify tradition, education, diversity, and environment, grasping all that was, is, and will continue to be Rocky Mountain College.

Rocky Mountain College engaged A.D. Creative Group to help them understand key drivers and values driving students decisions when it comes to selecting an educational institution to attend after graduation. To uncover the insights related to their specific objectives, A.D. planned an Extraction session made up of 3 different groups: high school students, current college students from various colleges, and post-grad/alumni. The goals, activities, and questions for each group were different but all contributed to the same, overall goal and understanding. The deliverable of these tailored research sessions was a report of key insights, actionable next steps, and facts that led us to the elusive “big idea” and dictated how the new brand was developed and launched.

A NEW BRANDING BOLDNESS.

As the need for a new coffee culture has emerged, so has the need to be relevant in attracting a new audience. Off The Leaf was created in a highly competitive local market, in what would be called a challenging location. As hundreds of new coffee products are being marketed to the masses daily, it’s those that generate enough buzz that find their way into the fabric of an audience. The opportunity to design a bold experience, which interacts with multiple demographics, has lead the new brand to successfully balance a premium product with cultural acceptance. In this hyper setting, the future of coffee is being brewed. Local consumers view carefully grown, beautifully roasted, elegantly prepared coffee as both an indulgence and a good value.

A.D. Creative Group is currently working with Off The Leaf to update some of its interior pieces and signage features to reflect the company’s new initiatives and product offerings.

Rich in history and a significant part of Montana’s economic past, the Northern Hotel was once a jewel in the region, a tapestry of history, stories, characters and visionary leaders. The goal to bring this historic hotel back to the reputation it once had was an exciting and intimidating project. We started by assembling a team including interior designers, architects, engineers, financial strategists and hospitality specialists. Comprehensive research was done to develop the plan for what the Northern would become and how to create an experience that could not be replicated in Montana.

By pouring through archives and dusty basements we compiled old logos, pictures and newspaper clippings from the last 120 years of the hotel’s history to begin defining the future.

As the vision for the Northern Hotel started to take shape, the concept of New Historical rose to the top as the focus for concept and design. The Northern has two distinct histories, and as they approached the third chapter, A.D. pulled together the essence of what the Northern Hotel has been in the past in order to design the future. Guests of the new Northern Hotel have the power to influence emotion, create a memorable experience and recapture the lost icon of the West.

AD. Creative Group began working with HeW in 2011 just after the client acquired ET&T, giving them a national footprint for Revenue Cycle Management solutions. Although HeW was well recognized in Montana, it lacked brand awareness on a larger scale and saw potential clients selecting other vendors because they thought HeW was “too small.” HeW asked A.D. to help them create a presence for HeW in the market which more accurately conveyed their credibility, experience and service capabilities. A.D. was also tasked with defining a new position for the organization to help HeW better separate from other vendors of larger size and monetary capabilities.

A.D. engaged HeW staff members in a series of Extraction sessions to help guide them through the process of identifying internal challenges, external market barriers and core strengths of the organization. We also evaluated current market trends for both the healthcare industry and consumer culture in general. At the end of the session, one major realization was discovered: HeW and its competitors all service both payers and providers however, there was a lack of communications specific to patients and their impact on businesses. Although HeW’s connection to the patient group is indirect, there is clear proof that behavior on either side impacts the other, creating a dotted path from HeW to the patient. Because of this, the opportunity exists for HeW to adopt and own the position of “Patient Advocate”, bridging connections in Healthcare industry-wide.

REBRANDING A NATIONAL JEWEL.

In 1999, the first new hotel since 1928 was commissioned to be built in Yellowstone National Park located next to the historic Old Faithful Lodge. The new Old faithful Snow Lodge became the leading expression of the branding initiatives for the multitude of facilities within the park system. A.D. Creative Group worked with the N.P.S. and concessionaires to revitalize the brand image to these public spaces, bringing back the heritage, craftsmanship and the historic value of a time gone by in a relevant brand experience to today and future markets. Beyond the brand essence was the creation of a graphic language that provided a cornerstone, which has influenced and communicated this national treasure to millions of people.

Over the years, A.D. Creative Group has assisted N.P.S. And Delaware North Companies (DNC), the consessionaire for Yellowstone National Park, with positioning, graphic standards, environment planning, identity, signage, marketing & media strategy, advertising, and merchandising. We developed a marketing campaign involving the creation of 12 new promotional packages for Yellowstone, designed to create excitement, generate a new way of thinking about West Yellowstone, and drive new revenue streams through 8 National Park Service retail facilities. The new packages were illustrated and built-out as signage for retail centers and various locations throughout the park with a full marketing strategy developed to inject the conversation into the market. In May 2011, the LA Times featured a story on the new spring packages for Yellowstone National Park, developed by A.D. Creative Group.

Work with DNC is ongoing to further develop tourism revenues for their in-park facilities and for West Yellowstone.

A NEW BRANDING BOLDNESS.

As the need for a new coffee culture has emerged, so has the need to be relevant in attracting a new audience. Off The Leaf was created in a highly competitive local market, in what would be called a challenging location. As hundreds of new coffee products are being marketed to the masses daily, it’s those that generate enough buzz that find their way into the fabric of an audience. The opportunity to design a bold experience, which interacts with multiple demographics, has lead the new brand to successfully balance a premium product with cultural acceptance. In this hyper setting, the future of coffee is being brewed. Local consumers view carefully grown, beautifully roasted, elegantly prepared coffee as both an indulgence and a good value.

A.D. Creative Group is currently working with Off The Leaf to update some of its interior pieces and signage features to reflect the company’s new initiatives and product offerings.

EBMS approached A.D. with three specific challenges: How do we make our internal operations more efficient? How do we communicate our value to potential clients more effectively? How do we separate ourselves from other Third Party Administrators and position the organization for long-term growth? A.D. Creative Group recommended Extraction and led a group of 15-20 members of the client’s executive board through activities designed to address these questions. At the end of the session, we determined their unique White Space centered on their ability to improve total wellbeing rather than simply administer benefits. We realized if Wellbeing = Balance and EBMS = Wellbeing then the new positioning for the organization should be: The Benefit of Balance. The new communications both internal and external all revolve around synonyms for Balance to convey the benefits clients and members receive when they work with EBMS: Equilibrium, Harmony, Clarity, Stability, Symmetry, Synergy, Rhythm.

When asked to define the retail and grocery facility at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, A.D. Creative Group embarked on a vision to enhance the consumer’s buying experience through a visual and verbal language. As with many National Park Service facilities, the brand essence of the location was lost in the early 70’s vernacular. Through a visually disciplined graphic approach, the brand language and essence of the facility was defined, providing the cornerstones to visually and emotionally engage the consumer. The 33,000 square foot facility created several complex branding opportunities, leading to a variety of seamless executions in the use of original illustration, photography, history, vocabulary, and signage.

With 3 main components: grocery, retail and deli needing to interact and communicate with one another, the interior package was designed to create a targeted response to a transitional tourist audience. Working with the majestic color palette and historical values of the area, our interior design concept was able to support these 3 individual offerings with a transformation of space relationships, color, flooring, wayfinding signage and branding. The result of this effort has stimulated multiple positive responses from our clients and most importantly the tourist audience. Naturally, the Grand Canyon itself provided the true inspiration.