What company has never dreamed of opening a branch in the city that never sleeps? Of setting up shop in the Big Apple, the communications capital of the world and the nerve centre of all things creative and graphic-related?

Well, chalk one up for espresso communication, who opened its New York City branch in March 2010.

The truth is espresso and NYC have a history. For over five years now we have been working on a regular basis with several Manhattan-based companies: we oversee all North American graphic communications for high-end furniture retailer Roche Bobois’s US division, as well as the development of their B2B strategy. Atout France USA—the French tourism agency’s American branch—has also been a client of espresso since 2005.

Opening an office in New York City wasn’t about landing a prize address or swanky digs—in any case, not for us. But before espresso was ready to take that leap, we needed to find someone to hold down the fort at our NYC branch—a competent, motivated person who articulated espresso’s communications vision. We found that person in Claire Pijoulat, the former marketing director at Roche Bobois USA and a long-time partner of espresso.

Claire joined us to put together espresso’s NYC proposal. What angle should we take? What is our competitive edge? What makes our approach unique? Why would a NYC company choose us over an established local agency? And especially, how can our fifteen years of communications experience work to our advantage as we tackle this new market?

We addressed each of these questions one by one. We assessed our actual and potential client bases, our approach, our contact network, and the method in our madness. We put the finishing touches on our rhetoric, we honed our arguments, and we fashioned our lengthy experience into unique expertise and a strategic vision that we are now proud to lay before NYC.

And here we are today; ready to embrace a new way of doing things—a hybrid we’ve cultivated that’s a cross between American know-how and European vision. We’re ready to let our inspiration and the signature Montréal creativity we’re so proud of run rampant through the streets of Manhattan. We’re finally ready to assume this coveted position, like a communications David in a city of Goliaths.

Stay tuned . . .