Here is the big 40!
Today, March 25, marks our 40th anniversary year in our industry. It’s daunting, considering that it is on its way to the half-a-century mark!
With only two credit cards as capital investment, and an outsized amount of chutzpah and confidence, I think back of the audacity I had to establish an agency with my then partner. We moved into a windowless office, rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Back in 1986, a year after the agency’s founding, we breathed a sigh of relief that we made it to our first year – intact. But by the time we reached 5 years, we knew we were on to something sustainable.
I really shouldn’t be amazed that we have reached this milestone, for we have always had an edge…
We have always had the passion, drive, as well as an understanding of the human emotional issues at stake. We were determined to drop all formulaic and stale PR approaches that had become commonplace among agencies at that time. I believed that breakthrough thinking, bold ideas, having the courage to adopt change in real time and employing new technologies ahead of the curve, were vital to achieving successes. We felt we needed to outsmart the competition to succeed and made up our minds to do so. We recognized that creating and sustaining business momentum meant that we would never stop dreaming, brainstorming, and workshopping.
With an ongoing healthy dose of curiosity, sprinkled with cautious consideration of risk-taking, we continued to prove ourselves, over four decades.
When I think of the changes we have been through, it feels like a lifetime, not just four decades, since I founded this agency. We started out focusing solely on public relations but quickly added marketing expertise. Later we added a social media management, digital marketing and a content production studio, LAB186, which fuses creative concept development and planning with production capabilities. We then added digital marketing, influencer relations, website development and online advertising.
In other words, we foresaw clients’ needs and wants before they even knew what they needed or wanted.
Creative thinking became the backbone of all campaigns, right from the start. Back in 1985, we started out with a local real estate client, who wanted us to send out an announcement of a new property acquisition but instead, with outsize creative thinking, we turned it into an event that attracted national media attention. Since then, we’ve worked with diverse clients at regional, national, and international levels. In the financial sector, we’ve partnered with Bel Air Investment Advisors; in the nonprofit sector, we’ve supported organizations like The USO and the Make-A-Wish Foundation; and in the consumer space, we’ve collaborated with brands such as SodaStream and Bob Evans Farms. We’ve embraced new industries along the way, staying ahead by adapting step by step and applying strategic, logical thinking to every challenge.
In 2000, believing in the power of shared purpose, we joined The Worldcom Public Relations Group, a consortium that provides access to the international creative capability of over 2,000 communication professionals in 105 cities, in 39 countries, and on six continents, enabling us to deliver success for our clients on the world stage. Worldcom put us at the heart of the latest innovative approaches to communications from leading experts, globally.
I believe it is our brand – our agency personality, that has been integral in our four decades of successes, one that has been nurtured and steadfastly held on to over our 40 years. Since our beginnings in 1985, we have unwaveringly held on to our tenacity, perseverance and curiosity. When told it cannot be done, we have asked, “why not?” When there is no news, we simply created the news through inventive storytelling often piggybacking on current causes/news/events. And our level of curiosity as to new technologies, has put us ahead of the curve, in real time.
It was, and remains today, about making a difference and having an impact in triggering and supporting trends; playing a vital role in a company’s growth; influencing the influencers; and supporting causes that have a bearing on humanity across the globe.
I am proud that we have remained true to our origins as an agency, comprised of talented people who have the same core values and, most importantly, have remained ahead of the curve on adaptability in offering our brand of creative and digital solutions. They are the backbone of our successes.
And I am proud of our agency for playing an important role in leading the charge for the industry’s future in charting new territories, navigating new waters, and is doing so with intelligence, empathy and grace.
As we have always done since March 25, 1985, we continue to work with clients who are looking for more than just an agency to check boxes, rather clients who want to partner with us in thinking bigger and aim higher. In an era defined by disruption, innovation, and rapid change, the client-agency relationship is being reimagined as I write this. For forty years, we’ve been fortunate to partner with forward-thinking brands, organizations and causes that aren’t afraid to push boundaries, question conventions, and ask the tough questions.
We are humbled by all those who have trusted us along the way to make a difference for them. My hope for the next 40 years is that we retain our exuberance for what we do – a certain “joie de vivre” for our work and that we remain trailblazers within our industry; and retain our heightened level of curiosity as to what is new in our industry. Growth is always good, but we need to expand judiciously, only when it makes sense and in keeping with our mission of fostering a deeper understanding of the scope of possibilities in clients’ communications efforts.
