Q: How does a company know when it’s ready to work with an ad agency?
Walker: For small businesses, it’s usually when the company needs expertise outside of its current capabilities and cannot justify hiring one or more full-time staff members. A relationship with an ad agency can act as an extension of the company, providing services for a one-off project or on a long-term basis.

Rothe: My farmer grandfather used to say, “When it’s green, it’s growing; when it’s ripe, it’s rotting.” As long as your company has all the business and growth you can handle, you probably don’t need a marketing agency. Once you realize that business will get tougher as your market ripens, get help. Some companies realize that at startup. Firms that struggle in a mature or commoditized market have waited too long.  

Ponischil: No one may know your company better than you, the owner. But you may not be the best person to create the advertising and marketing to take the company to the next profitable level. Just as you pay your CPA to handle your company tax returns and your attorney to handle legal matters, it’s important to hire an advertising agency to do what they do best in helping you brand your business. Include marketing and advertising in your corporate budget – marketing and branding your company should always be a part of your business plan.

Q: How can small and midsize companies benefit from working with an agency?
Finley: Most agencies don’t work exclusively with larger companies, but the larger firms usually have big annual budgets allocated to execute well-planned PR, marketing and advertising. Smaller firms generally work on a project-to-project, as-needed basis. It is also imperative to find an agency that is about the same size as your company. A small or midsize company will not get the same personalized service at a large agency.

Walker: Advertising agencies are like any other business – they vary in size and specialization. While some one- and two-person boutique agencies might cater to smaller businesses, their size does not disqualify them from doing project work for larger companies depending on their specialization. Likewise, midsize and large agencies will often work with similarly sized clients, but they work with smaller clients as well. What it boils down to is representing the clients that you can serve best.

Rothe: Large agencies keep more talent on staff, so big clients and contracts are necessary in order to cover overhead. Small agencies use freelancers as needed to keep production capacity flexible. We have found excellent freelance writers and artists who possess big-agency talent. That helps us keep overhead low and makes it possible to serve the small and midsize companies as well as Fortune 500 firms.

Q: What are the main benefits an ad agency can bring to a company?
Walker: Experience, objectivity and fresh thinking. Ad agencies help a client gain focus and offer a different perspective, fresh ideas and new ways of doing business, as well as effectively assist in the allocation of resources (people, time, money).

Joyce: Beyond strong creative design and organization of a marketing campaign, our clients enjoy two main benefits: Strong competitive differentiation through unique creative designs and positioning. New ideas that energize the selling and marketing process.

Ponischil: Working with an advertising agency allows you to do what you do best – run your business. The benefit of working with an agency is they bring a pool of resources to the table. Agencies provide not only marketing insight and planning expertise, but also economies of scale in buying media and print and graphic designers who are talented in various industries and projects, etc. It would be tough to hire an in-house person who could effectively manage all the aspects that an agency manages for a client.

Q: What are they keys to designing and placing an effective ad?
Joyce: The ad must be honest, tell a story that attracts the intended target audience, and convey the appropriate features and benefits of the showcased product or service. The intended publication needs to be targeted to the correct audience and contain relevant content that will entice the reader to actually spend time with the publication.

Rothe: Aristotle called it kairos. In Greek it means “the right moment.” Good marketing leads the right person to notice your brand at the right time. An effective ad speaks directly to your prospects when they are ready to buy. It must capture their attention with visuals and words, describe problems about which they care, and offer them solutions that work. Ask them to act.

Ponischil: The key is knowing the target audience you are marketing to. Any advertising budget should also include ad design. The design should speak directly to and connect with the audience. The ad needs to be placed in a publication that will reach this targeted audience. Are you trying to reach an affluent baby boomer or a hip millennial?

To remain consistent with your message and branding across more than two advertising mediums and to creatively set your company apart from your competitors, consider hiring a professional designer to develop a series of ads that can cross different mediums.

Q: How have modern changes affected the way you market a company?
Walker: Social marketing, Web sites and related new media technology have allowed us to transact business and better engage target audiences. It has also enabled greater two-way communication, increased transparency and empowered consumers. In today’s virtual marketplace, consumers can greatly impact a brand – for good or bad. Having a comprehensive and well-thought-out interactive strategy is paramount, whether you operate in a business-to-consumer or business-to-business environment.

Joyce: It’s the Internet that is king now. We have embraced the new virtues of Web 2.0 and have started to steer our clients toward Web 2.0 compliance. The main benefits of Web 2.0 technology are the transition of a client’s existing Web site into a platform for conducting business and equipping the site with new technology tools that foster collaboration and partnership.

Q: Tell us about a recent campaign of yours that you are particularly proud of?
Finley: Allen Finley Advertising is very proud of a print, Web and promotional materials campaign for Hickory Springs Manufacturing Company’s revolutionary new foam product, Preserve. Ground-floor planning with the client allowed the agency to create the name, logo, brochure, sample folders, advertisement, media placement and Web site.  Preserve Foam is the world’s first bio-based foam. This campaign was a good fit with our agency’s philosophy of bringing value to our customers and issues regarding the environment. AFA is fortunate to have a client with forward-thinking ambitions and noble goals, while maintaining their company’s growth potential.

Walker: Since we are a company that believes strongly in adding a layer of science to this art form through results-generation and measurement, one recent campaign that exceeded all of our expectations was for The Cascades at Verdae, a senior living community in Greenville, South Carolina. The objective of this multimedia (advertising, direct mail, interactive) campaign was to generate 500 prospective resident leads who were financially qualified to purchase a retirement home.

Not only were we introducing a product that was on the high end of the market, but we also faced a challenging real estate and financial environment. The campaign generated more than 1,000 leads, and because many of these prospects were highly qualified, a higher-than-expected percent of those leads were converted to sales, which enabled the developer to begin construction on the community 90 days ahead of schedule.

Joyce: One of our ongoing client success stories is with Metro GreenScape. In 2006, they came to Ideas Squared with a plan to transform their business into the premier outdoor living design-and-build company in Charlotte. We re-branded and positioned their company with those new goals, created key marketing and selling messages, and launched a market-wide campaign. The campaign included print media, Google AdWords, e-mail marketing, on-site signage, direct mail, and vehicle fleet graphics. Their business immediately took root and has grown sales to the $2 million mark in 2008.

Rothe: Our recent “excellence expansion” campaign was designed to improve service and product quality for an industrial division of a Fortune 1,000 company. Our campaign celebrates the individual worker  as a representative of the corporation. Our“I-WOW!” program tracks four key metrics by which plant personnel are scored: on-time deliveries, customer credits, repeat errors, and a customer impression score. The campaign also includes an online motivational video, dry-erase scoreboards at each plant and production line, periodic posters recounting the story of a “WOWed” customer, plus performance incentives including iPods and other I-WOW!-branded specialty items. Results from the launch have been impressive enough to expand the program to other divisions.

Ponischil: We recently finished a benefits campaign that encouraged employee participation in a new health program. With this campaign we were able to meet all of the deadlines, stay in budget and be extremely creative while promoting a new program. This campaign embodies our philosophy of giving the client an effective product that will help them reach their goals while at the same time remaining creative.

Q: What are some of the best local campaigns you have seen others do?
Finley: I especially like the N.C. Tourism print ads that Jim Mountjoy’s firm does in Charlotte. The photography is incredible; copy is great.

Walker: “Lance in Your Pants,” which is a consumer radio and television campaign produced for Lance Crackers. The campaign was very creative and relevant to the target audience.

Joyce: We really enjoy how Lowe’s Home Improvement markets their company and their involvement in our community.

Rothe: What BooneOakley did for CarMax is exceptional. I also admire Eric Mower’s green campaign for Nucor and LKM’s work for N. C. Tourism.

Ponischil: I really like the “Charlotte’s got a lot” campaign. I love the play on words. I think the look is very fresh, and I really enjoy how it’s promoting the city as a destination.

Q: How do you determine what form of media (or mediums) is best for a client?
Finley: The target audience and budget is a big factor. Outdoor might be the best for one product. Radio could be the best for another. Again, for most products, people generally go to a Web site first to quickly learn about a product before buying it. For retail products, TV is still far-and-away to biggest medium. Good business-to-business advertising in trade pubs and the Web is essential for manufacturers.

Joyce: We believe in 2009 that there no longer exists a “typical” media mix. The way that consumers and customers use media has changed from the impact of technology.  We really focus on the core target customer and how they interact with media messages.  Our agency believes in the philosophy of personalization-and-relationship marketing.

Whatever mix we create for a client is totally customized and unique. All rules from the past are out when it comes to marketing and growing our client’s customer base. There is a new set of guidelines moving forward. And creativity mixed with new messaging is key.