About LAD communications

Founded by Lisa Donoughe in 1999, LAD communications, Inc is a small, dynamic agency specializing in branding through strategic communications. Our practice includes clients in a range of categories such as consumer products, retail, technology, food, wine and restaurants.

Fun behind the scenes at Cristom Winery. From left to right: Chef/Owner Caprial Pence of Caprial's Restaurant; Steve Doerner, winemaker at Cristom; Ms. Donoughe; John Pence of Caprial's; Christine Gerrie of Cristom

After 12 years of working in international marketing communications in New York City, Donoughe decided to build more balance and a better quality of life. Donoughe now splits her time between New York and Portland, Oregon, connecting clients with the best of both worlds.

In April 2003, LAD comm opened its first international office in Wellington, New Zealand. Donoughe has a long history promoting the New Zealand Game Industry Board in the US and has partnered with the board's former marketing manager, Catherine Cordwell, to establish the company's Australasian presence.

LAD comm founder Lisa Donoughe and Catherine Cordell enjoy a walk in a newly planted olive grove in New Zealand's celebrated wine region of Marlborough.

The company's vision is to offer the gold standard of innovation and strategy through work that is generated by a small global network of senior level practitioners.

Read more about Donoughe's background. And read more about our New Zealand experience and what makes us tick.

Food and Lifestyle Experts

"They're thinkers first, and PR people second."
- Charlie Palmer, Aureole Restaurant, New York City

Ms. Donoughe and her team have helped the best chefs in America heat up their careers. She has led PR campaigns for Charlie Palmer, B. Smith, Pino Luongo, Ismail Merchant, and many more stars in the culinary world. From cover stories on Bon Appetit Magazine to booking chefs on Rosie O'Donnell and Good Morning America, top media outlets turn to LAD to find out what's happening in the food scene today.

She and her savvy associates help businesses gain visibility among local, regional and national audiences. From opening upscale retail stores and wineries to launching organic product lines and restaurants to re-positioning a segment of the farming industry in New Zealand, LAD comm has earned its reputation as the go-to team for strategic high profile media results.

Business and Branding Experts

"LAD comm is a great resource for story ideas and trend information. They understand what's happening in the marketplace."
- Alice Feiring, Business Reporter, The New York Times

Media relations experts at LAD comm have launched portal sites such as CitysearchNY.com and StoliCentral.com. Product launches such as Cyber Pounce, the first computer game for cats, have garnered high profile features on CNN Headline News and Associated Press. Business-to-businesses experience has generated more clients and bigger market shares for leaders in technology, foodservice and education.

Seeing the Real Issues, Creating Innovative Solutions

Anise Innovative Thai Restaurant:
Whether you're Kraft Foods or a small restaurant in Wellington, New Zealand the issues are the same. It's important to develop a relationship with your customers. And your spending needs to be done wisely no matter how big or small the budget.

At LAD communications we don't believe that throwing money at advertising is always the right solution. We will take an intelligent approach to looking at the real issues involved first and then recommend how to progress in a creative and focused way.

New contemporary Thai restaurant Anise approached Catherine wanting help with an advertising campaign to bring more people through the door. Anise had received rave reviews about their stylish food, service and stunning décor. After some discussion, Catherine recommended that, rather than going straight into spending on what could be wasted advertising money, Anise take a look at whether there were any issues that needed to be sorted out that could get more people through the door.

Catherine developed and implemented a survey of a small number of diners in Anise's target audience i.e. aged 25 to 55 years old, upper income brackets, and adventurous food enthusiasts.

A range of themes was explored including the food, décor, location, table arrangements and service.

The result showed that of those who had been to Anise, the service and food were given top marks, but views on the table arrangements were completely polarized. Over half had a problem with sitting at the large communal tables at Anise, commenting on things like a lack of privacy and noise.

Anise has now replaced some of the communal seating with small tables to cater for those who prefer an intimate dining experience. The response has been extremely favorable with an immediate increase in turnover. This is something that no amount of advertising could have fixed.

LAD comm is Dedicated to Helping the Community

Pro-bono clients include The Oregon Food Bank, The Oregon Entrepreneur Forum and The Initiative for the Portland Public Market.

"Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in others. But can it really? True effectiveness requires balance."
- Stephen Covey

Cheers to more balance in your life!