Like a number of firms, Lippe Taylor recognizes the increased purchasing power of women, as well as the empowerment of women consumers as a result of social media and “mommy blogging.” But Lippe Taylor differentiates itself by talking about marketing “with” women rather than “to” them, a distinction that has its roots in a suite of proprietary tools that allow the firm to understand the female consumer; its experience across multiple categories including fashion, beauty, food, lifestyle, and healthcare; and a holistic view of the marketing mix that houses public relations within a full suite of marketing services that includes positioning, advertising, trade and consumer promotion, digital platforms, and social marketing.

Much of the firm’s new approach has been driven by the appointment of president Jim Joseph in late 2009. Joseph brought with him a background in personal care marketing at Johnson & Johnson as well as agency leadership at The Publicis Groupe (Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett’s Arc), and working alongside agency founder and CEO Maureen Lippe, a former fashion editor at Vogue and health and beauty editor at Harper’s Bazaar, has shifted the firms focus. The leadership team also includes executive vice presidents and group leaders Jessica DiPietro (beauty); Craig Alperowitz (consumer); and David Binkowski (digital marketing).

Longtime clients such as IKEA, David’s Bridal, Cetaphil, Sally Beauty Supply, and the Digene HPV Test (Lippe Taylor has an outstanding record on retention) contributed good organic growth, and there was new business success too. In the consumer lifestyle realm, the agency expanded its relationship with Nestle Beverage and added new responsibilities for David’s Bridal; in health and wellness, it picked up new Amerifit brands and expanded the scope of its work with Lumenis, a medical laser technology company for which it won the Silver SABRE Award; while the beauty team picked up new FusionBrands, Alterna haircare, and Dickenson’s Witch Hazel, and launched the social marketing platform for teen and young adult brand Clearasil. Perhaps most notably, though, the firm grew its work with the Energizer shaving franchise, including Schick, Schick Quattro for Women, Schick Intuition, and Skintimate, incorporating social media into the marketing mix.

“Lippe-Taylor exemplifies what every agency should resemble,” says Matt Rader, senior brand manager, Schick Razor. “Their foundation is built on relationship building not only with the client but the end user as well. Nestled on top of this rock solid foundation is an organization progressive in collaborative group think and tremendously aggressive at executing with excellence. In my time working with them they have consistently raised the performance bar and have delivered ‘gold standard’ plans shared company wide. They are true champions of a brand partnership and embrace the concept of thought leadership not thought ownership.”

Interesting work ranged from cause marketing work for Rachel Ray’s Nutrish brand, providing a mechanism for animal shelters to set up websites and secure donations, to environmental communications—time to coincide with Earth Month—for IKEA, to orchestrating a Schick-sponsored entertainment event at the BlogHer conference in Manhattan.