W. Clair Communications

Brand Strategy · Storytelling · AI Advisory

Story builds brand.

Strategy drives growth.

AI accelerates momentum.

The skyline of Chicago with Lake Michigan in the foreground. The view of the city is from the promenade lakeside wall bordering North Avenue Beach.
The Chicago skyline and the Lake Michigan waterfront anchor America’s “Third Coast,” embodying resilience, reinvention and rebuilding. W. Clair Communications draws creative energy from Chicago’s architecture of ideas. Photo by Skip Hidlay.

W. Clair Communications is a brand strategy, storytelling and AI advisory consultancy. Founded by William “Skip” Hidlay, journalist, health system executive and AI-era leader, W. Clair is built to help organizations find, develop, and share their story — the most powerful asset they have.

Skip lived and worked in Chicago during some of the most pivotal years of his career. He has rooted W. Clair in Chicago’s legacy of excellence and innovation at the intersection of industry, culture, and creativity.

W. Clair practices “Third Coast Thinking,” a transformative approach to branding, communications and marketing that ignites change, builds team culture, and grows business.
.

Let’s Start a Conversation
A spotlight shines from atop a skyscraper during a rainy night in Chicago.
A beacon lights the night from atop a skyscraper along Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. Like a searchlight, W. Clair helps leaders navigate challenges and break through brand blur, enabling their companies and organizations to stand out. Photo by Skip Hidlay.

The W. Clair Difference

Leadership

More than 30 years as a C-suite executive, senior editor, and organizational strategist. Skip helps CEOs, CMOs, and Founders navigate the complex intersection of human talent, brand storytelling, and AI to build their brand, drive growth, and create high-impact teams.

Brand Strategy

Fractional CCMO leadership, brand positioning, content and storytelling strategy, crisis communications, and agency management. Through StoryPower, we simplify to amplify, turning strategy into a compelling narrative that fuels growth.

AI Advisory

Skip has led teams through the full cultural and technical transition to AI-powered operations — not as an outside advisor, but as a leader who built it from the inside. He believes in strategic and ethical AI innovation that elevates human creativity.

Who We Work With

Health Systems & Academic Medical Centers

You provide excellent patient care and produce groundbreaking science – achievements most organizations would envy. But your brand story — the one that reaches patients, donors, and talent — hasn’t caught up. That’s the gap W. Clair closes. Learn more.

Enterprise Organizations

Your brand has equity. But somewhere between the strategy deck and the content calendar, your story has been lost. W. Clair finds it again — and builds the architecture to make sure it stays found. Learn more.

Founder-led Companies

You’re scaling fast and you need senior communications leadership you can trust — without the overhead of a full-time hire. That’s exactly what a fractional CCMO engagement with W. Clair is designed to do. Learn more.

A career built for storytelling

William "Skip" Hidlay, the founder and managing principal of W. Clair Communications, LLC. Hidlay has more than 40 years of experience as a journalist, editor and communications strategist in the news media and healthcare.

From The Associated Press and Gannett to the University of Chicago Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center — and now to W. Clair Communications — Skip Hidlay has spent more than three decades at the intersection of story, strategy, and leadership.

“Your brand’s story is the most powerful asset you have. Let’s make sure it’s understood and heard.”

Let’s find your story