President & Communications Consultant, PW Sawyer Consulting
Philip W. Sawyer is a communications consultant who is considered a leading expert on advertising effectiveness. He has worked both in the U.S. and internationally with advertisers to elevate awareness of the principles of effective advertising and to incorporate those principles to bolster the power of advertising efforts. A frequent speaker on advertising topics, Mr. Sawyer has been featured in conferences sponsored by the Association of National Advertisers, the Ad Club of New York, DTC Perspectives, the Magazine Publishers of America, the Advertising Research Foundation, the American Marketing Association, the Market Research Council, and Media Networks Incorporated, among many others. His presentations on The Ten Principles of Effective Advertising (which comprise the print, digital and video media) have been delivered at conferences and forums throughout the country, Europe, and Asia.
He has been cited at length in numerous articles that have appeared in The New York Times, Automotive News, The Wall Street Journal, and Advertising Age, to name a few, and he has written extensively on the topic of advertising effectiveness.
As President of PW Sawyer Consulting, Mr. Sawyer’s clients have included The Aspen Institute, Fidelity, and the KellerFay Group. Most recently his advertising-research efforts have been expanded through his consultative work with Innercope Research, the nation’s leading neuroscience consumer-research firm; at Innerscope, he was the principle developer of the firm’s Best Practices capabilities, which, in turn, added a new dimension to his own understanding of the creative elements that excite emotional reactons and engage the viewer.
Mr. Sawyer was a Senior Vice President and Director of the Starch Advertising Research division of GfK Custom Research North America. He was the editor of Starch Tested Copy, a highly respected newsletter on advertising effectiveness. Prior to leading the Starch division, he also functioned as Director of Communications for Roper Starch Worldwide (prior to its acquisition by GfK). In that capacity he was responsible for the firm’s advertising, marketing, and public relations functions.
From 1985 to 1987, Mr. Sawyer was the Director of Research for Peter Small & Associates, a public relations firm in New York.
Before that he was: a media advisor in the 1984 congressional campaign in the 8th district of Pennsylvania; a writer/researcher in Washington, D.C., employed both by the Commerce Department and the Executive Office of the President (during the Carter Administration); and, for five years, a university instructor of writing, literature, and film.