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Old-School

Publishing Chops

for

Modern Mediums

We were storytelling before storytelling was cool.

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Our Story

(01)

I’ve worked in the publishing industry — books, magazines, newspapers, websites, you name it — for more than 25 years and helped start a scrappy, successful creative agency that illuminated the path to launching Crush Editorial. All of these experiences taught me that no matter how much businesses evolve, how much technology changes, or how many trends come and go (gaucho pants anyone?), everybody likes a good story.

And a good story can be told in three words, or 3,000. It can be told in a picture or an illustration, a logo or an Instagram post, or even an annual report.

The other thing I learned working in this business: creative talent alone is too capricious and unreliable to sustain consistently great teams and rewarding work. It takes people who are flexible and curious. It takes people with a rock-solid work ethic and emotional intelligence.

We work with creatives who are genuinely fascinated by what they do, intrigued by the clients and businesses we work with, and willing to do whatever it takes to get the work done no matter how big or small-seeming the job is. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Crush Editorial is the result of decades spent working with incredible editors, writers, designers, illustrators, photographers and other makers who burned out on the 9 to 5 agency grind or priced out of dwindling print and digital budgets. We are a team of hard-working, ass-kicking professionals who crazy-love what we do, and we never stop learning.

We keep it lean and interesting by selecting clients and projects that don’t feel like work.

Colleen Rush

Founder/Chief Enchilada Officer

(02)

Our Way

Content is not a commodity.

We’ve recast the traditional publishing hierarchy and workflow to create top-notch content marketing and branding for clients. Our best work looks and feels different because we’re not selling, we’re delivering valuable experiences. We leverage decades of editorial acumen to create compelling, audience-driven content that makes a lasting impression. Because good content isn’t disposable — it’s evergreen. It’s a fundamental opportunity to connect and build community with a coveted audience.

(03)

Our Work

Here’s what we do, in a nutshell.

(Words)

Content strategy/management/production
Longform content
Branded/sponsored content
SEO content
Editorial assignments
Ghostwriting
Copywriting
Editing/Copy editing/Fact checking
Proposals
Annual reports

(Pictures)

Brand design and management
Brand collateral (print and digital)
Graphic design
Custom illustration
Custom photography
Motion graphics

* Our nutshell never stops growing. If you like what you see but need something different, ask us anyway. If we can’t do it, we know other badasses in our network who can.

Lean by Design

Independent, experienced, reliable creatives at your beck and call. Say what? We’re an un-agency. Think of us as an in-house creative team, without the expense or baggage.

Who’s Best,
Not Who’s Available

We’re an anywhere/everywhere team curated through years of experience in publishing, advertising and marketing circles.

Hands-on, All-in

/ Agile

There are no account managers  here. We work one-on-one with businesses — think of us as an extension of your team.

No matter the industry, we dive in.

When we started ramping up the Take 5 Oil Change franchise business, we needed a highly-organized, thorough and curious person to dive into our existing operations material to create a framework and roadmap for developing an outstanding new Franchise Owner’s Manual.

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Colleen embedded herself within all of our departments to learn the business – she needed little direction after brief introductions with team leaders and then she ran with it from there. Her team designed a complete and thorough manual that was critical to growing our franchise business.

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This is a hardworking, all-in kind of team to work with on projects that require content and brand management.

Ted Rippey

Senior Vice President of Franchise Development

Driven Brands, Inc.

We’ve worked with Colleen and her team from the development of the Center for Sport brand to the launch of some of our most important programs.

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She’s with us every step of the way, providing key strategic advice and developing creative assets that are critical to promoting awareness about the work we do — from our digital presence and brand management to annual reports and proposals. The Crush team feels like an extension of our team.
Eric Beverly

Director of Operations

Center for Sport

When asked to develop creative marketing for a Fortune 500 financial services firm, most agencies go the easy route — traditional, transactional, and (let's say it) boring.


But when Crush Editorial kicked off with us, the digital marketing team felt a breath of fresh air. Here was a firm whose creative approach was consumer-focused, not tradition-focused. In my change-resistant organization, they built a compelling business case for journalistic content marketing, showing us its potential to build consideration and ultimately drive to purchase. Within six months of launch, we'd won two advertising industry awards.


Now into our eighth year with Crush, we're utilizing their network of designers, illustrators, photographers, copywriters, technologists, and more. Their flawless execution and end-to-end ownership mindset keep us coming back and expanding scope.


And the most important part — business results. In studies with our research agencies, content marketing has shown to be the single most effective driver of consideration; another campaign had the highest conversion rate on our site — even topping traditional lead-gen landing pages. Doing the math on the business that's generated — our relationship with Crush is ROI-positive, and then some.

Beth Mayall-Traglia

Senior Director of Marketing

Farmers Insurance