I Love Andy Cunningham

Third in a series of tributes.

Long before I had the privilege of engaging with Andy Cunningham as part of the Freeman Design Council, I knew her in the Silicon Valley days. I was in awe of her. She was the powerhouse PR consultant who deployed strategy to beat the tech bro’s at their own game and bring order to their chaos.

Instead of grandstanding, she moved with an even-keeled temperament we now know as emotional intelligence. She was a master at crafting brand narratives—one of the originals who got it right. In fact, the success of the Apple Macintosh launch owes much to how she strategically positioned the famous 1984 commercial with the right people, long before it aired, while managing the brilliant but temperamental Steve Jobs. She was the only person I ever met who could tell him “no.”

Andy was unflappable because she kept her eye on the prize. She understood the emotional power of a little white box designed to liberate technology from the technocrats.  She was an evangelist for giving tech power to the people..

I learned so much just from watching her. I continue to follow her Cunningham Collective work. To this day, I cannot think about branding without reflecting on her breakthrough approach to emotional engagement. The magic is in the authenticity. And that’s why I love Andy Cunningham.