Creativeworks Brings Big Agency Experience to Hacienda

By Scott Eldredge, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Ad Agency Provides Madison Avenue Know-How with a Personal Touch

Creativeworks, a full service advertising and marketing agency located at 5990 Stoneridge Drive in Hacienda, offers a range of services and depth of talent that belies its seven-person size. Co-owners Sheldon Schachter, creative director, and Carol Dickinson, head of marketing and account services, combine experience working for Fortune 500 clients on large accounts with an understanding of the needs of companies of the Tri-Valley area.

Schachter and Dickinson learned the business in the advertising centers of Detroit and New York, working in product categories as diverse as automotive, healthcare, package goods, and finance for clients as large as the Ford Motor Company and Procter and Gamble. Schachter has earned the advertising industry's highest award, a Gold Lion from Cannes, and numerous Clio awards for his creative work. Dickinson's broad background includes extensive experience in the therapeutic healthcare and pharmaceutical areas.

Schachter came to California when he was recruited to be the creative director of the marketing department of World Savings and Loan, the nation's second-largest S&L. In 2001 he and Dickinson opened their own agency in San Ramon, and in January, they moved Creativeworks to a larger space in Pleasanton.

Now working with small and medium-sized companies, the two principals find that their big agency, large account experiences gives them a unique perspective.

"Our clients want hands-on experience in the brands and categories they're in, which we can provide," says Schachter. "For any client who walks in the door, our goal is to generate foot traffic, inquiries, make the phone ring - the bottom line for them is the bottom line. But we also bring our Madison Avenue training and background - the full range of creative thinking and strategic marketing, and because we've been there and done it all, we can do things easier and faster."

"But we don't automatically apply approaches that we learned in a big agency," stresses Dickinson. " A company like Johnson & Johnson may not suffer much if one brand is not profitable, but to people with small and medium-size businesses, this is a critical problem - they're trying to stay afloat, or differentiate themselves. We've learned how to be a lot more efficient and creative - we think harder."

The agency also works with companies who just want a change, and companies with some experience with advertising and marketing who want another agency on tap for a fresh look or new approach. "We are a resource they are familiar with," says Schachter, "in terms of working with people who are up to speed immediately, who know where they are going and how to get there."

"In a lot of ways, we reflect the business environment here in Hacienda," says Dickinson. "There are a lot of experienced people here, people who learned their craft while working for larger corporations and came up with alternate ideas for their own companies. We cut our teeth the same way, so we understand. Some of the people we've had the opportunity to work with here have presented some significant marketing challenges to us, and I think we've been able to meet them."

Creativeworks is happy to share what they know and welcomes walk-in inquiries.

Photo: Sheldon Schachter and Carol Dickinson opened Creativeworks in 2001 and expanded into their Hacienda offices in January.

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