The Essence defines what makes a brand different.
But being different isn’t enough. A consumer can understand a product. Recognize its benefits. Even believe that it is better. But will they want it?
The Challenge
What if the challenge is not the problem?
And sometimes the greatest opportunity is hidden behind the assumptions we have about our brand.
Then, the question becomes: “What if?” It is an opportunity waiting to be discovered.
A different way to look at a brand
It starts by defining its Essence. It ends by finding its Soul.
That’s where the Soul comes in.
A brand can explain what it does. It can demonstrate why it is better. But to make a consumer want it, it must create a desire. That desire is emotional.
The Soul of the brand is the emotional trigger that gives consumers the reason to buy.
How do you find the Soul?
Soul Searching™
Our proprietary process that turns the Essence of a brand into its Soul.
MgM Creative Lab doesn’t merely apply a process… it applies creative thinking and the “What if?” principle to every element of the process.
- Research isn’t just data.
- Competitive analysis isn’t just a checklist.
- Consumer research isn’t simply about confirming what we already believe.
- 01
Consumer Understanding
- 02
Category & Competitive Dynamics
- 03
Creative Interpretation
- 04
Experience
Every element becomes an opportunity to ask:
“What if?”
- What if the chosen consumer isn’t the right consumer?
- What if the category can be redefined?
- What if the opportunity is somewhere nobody is looking?
- What if the first answer isn’t the right answer?
Experience
Experience changes the way you see things.
More than six decades of accumulated experience and proven creative efficacy in:
- Creating brands.
- Launching products.
- Developing new categories.
- Understanding consumers.
- Turning challenges into opportunities.
Experience doesn’t provide all the answers. It teaches you how to find the right ones.
MgM Creative Lab delivers
A Diagnostic Strategic Analysis:
- The Soul of the Brand
- Strategic Recommendations
- Market & Consumer Insights
- Competitive Understanding
- Positioning Direction
- Target Audience Direction
- Creative & Marketing Recommendations
- Cutting-Edge Executions
- High-Quality Production
The result becomes a strategic compass, pointing the brand toward a proprietary marketing positioning and guiding branding programs that foster consumer loyalty, and with it, growth.
Capabilities
From “What if?” to the Soul solution.
“The reliability and creative genius of a professional agency… with entrepreneurial understanding and commitment.”
MgM Creative Lab gives you MgM Gold’s branding and creative execution on a per-project basis, backed by more than 50 years of collective experience in strategic brand positioning, communications and design.
Design
- Brand identity design
- Corporate identity development
- Logo design
- Packaging design
- Graphic design
- Print advertisements
- Web content
Marketing
- Go-to-market services
- Social media marketing
- Broadcast outreach
- Email marketing
- Print outreach
- Guerrilla outreach
Creative
- Digital advertising design
- Digital content production
- Film & video production
- Film & video editing
- 2D animation
- 3D modeling & animation
Production & Studio
- CGI & visual effects
- Virtual production
- Photorealistic 3D & product renders
- Live production & broadcasting
- Green screen compositing
- Motion graphics
- Podcasts & talk shows
- Original programming
The Advantages of In-House Production
From “What if?” to the final frame.
- Commercial Production
- Commercials and brand campaigns made in-house, from creative concept and voiceover through filming, sound and final delivery.
- CGI & Visual Effects
- Photorealistic 3D product and packaging shots, animated 3D logos, CG environments and virtual sets.
- Broadcast & Live
- Getting your brand on air: satellite media tours, live TV segments, talk shows and podcasts, with cameras, sound, graphics and live green screen.
- Post-Production
- Clean video and podcast editing, color, sound, motion graphics and final delivery for TV, web and social.
Our Creative Director, Adam Hariri, is a multimedia producer and post-production specialist with a degree in filmmaking and animation. Adam has worked on satellite media tours with the stars of Shark Tank and Sesame Street, broadcast on national networks including NBC, ABC and Fox, and has led post-production for The Brooklyn Hospital Center and The Moth. Strategy and execution stay under one roof, and the idea doesn’t get lost in translation.
Watch the reelThe MgM Creative Lab Promise:
You don’t work with MgM Creative Lab because we have all the answers. You work with us because we have spent a lifetime learning how to find the right ones.
We don’t just promise answers.
We roll up our sleeves and find them with you.
Our Work
Some of our firsts.
Besides positioning and introducing new products, brands and categories, we produced many firsts with our creative executions.
Liquor
Molinari Sambuca
For the first time ever, a foreign language (Italian) stated the brand’s heritage and leadership in Italy, speaking to affluent Americans and Italian-Americans alike. Sales rose 49% within six months.
Dairy
Parmalat Milk
Luciano Pavarotti, in concert in Central Park. Through special shooting and editing, the Parmalat logo appeared beside or behind him for an hour and forty-two minutes, making it the longest commercial ever broadcast worldwide.
Food
Pomì
Four words that started a Tomato Revolution and made Pomì the gold standard for fresh-tasting packaged tomatoes, introducing aseptic packaging to US consumers for the first time.
Beauty
Italian Beauty Innovations
Botticelli’s Venus celebrated a “Renaissance of Beauty” in place of the usual model nobody identifies with, making the line the hottest among professional beauticians.
Selected campaigns
Select any piece to view it larger.
Let’s create another success story.
Brands we’ve helped build
- Barilla
- De Cecco
- Parmalat
- Pomì
- Garofalo
- Giovanni Rana
- Häagen-Dazs
- Hershey
- Gillette
- Braun
- Clairol
- L’Oréal
- Chicco
- Beltrami
- Buccellati
- Seiko
- Bergdorf Goodman
- Citibank
- Alitalia
- Ciga Hotels
- Westin Resorts
- TWA
- Cinzano
- Molinari Sambuca
- Cavit Wines
- Yamaha
- Polaroid
- Shell Oil
- Montefiore
- NYU Downtown
- Columbia Presbyterian
- SUNY
- Maxwell House
- Ferrarelle
- Avon
- NYC Int’l Film Festival
Our Founder
Mario G. Messina
President & Chief Creative Officer, MgM Gold Communications
“We don’t just promise creativity, we deliver creativity that delivers.”
One of the truly creative “ad men” in the industry, Mario has marketed new products and services on two continents for more than 40 years. His world-class creative work has won coveted awards, and his skill as a marketing specialist has carved out new market niches and repositioned and revitalized stagnant brands.
His campaigns have helped establish “Made in Italy” in the USA as a symbol of high quality across many market segments, for clients including Chicco, Cavit Wines, Beltrami, De Cecco, Jolly Hotels, Buccellati, Garofalo and Verdi.
- 1986
Establishes MgM & Partners and immediately attracts European clients bringing their products to the United States.
- 1987
Launches Pomì in the US, introducing aseptic packaging to American consumers. The work earns Telly and New York Festivals awards.
- 1993
Introduces Parmalat long-life milk, winning consumer acceptance for a totally foreign concept: non-refrigerated milk.
- +49%
Molinari Sambuca sales growth within six months. Ciga Hotels becomes a household name in the US.
Our Team
The people behind the “What if?”
A boutique team that connects decades of brand strategy with hands-on, modern production, from the first question to the finished frame.
-
Mario G. Messina
President & Chief Creative Officer
Four decades of brand building on two continents. Mario leads strategy and the Soul Searching™ process.
-
Adam Hariri
Creative Director
Multimedia producer and post-production specialist who directs the creative execution of our projects, overseeing proposals, client meetings and the work itself. ahariri.com
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Monica Vargas
Sales Director
Builds client relationships and brings new opportunities to the Lab.
-
Muriel Campomizzi
Supports Mario’s teaching engagements at NYU and Columbia.
Case histories available upon request
MgM Gold Communications, Ltd485 Madison Avenue, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10022