Get Past Local. Go Global.
If you are a Melbourne, Dallas, Cardiff, Charlotte or Boise ad agency you just might be stuck herding smallish clients in your regional market. Becoming a global advertising agency is simply not going to be an option if you position yourself as a generic full-service or digital agency. Bottom line, a New York or Sydney client is not going to take a second look at you (or find you) unless you have a very specific service specialty that crosses borders – even states. Clients are willing to rule out the need for a local agency if they perceive that you have a specialty that they need – regardless of geography. Having a specialty will also make you stand out and drive your search engine marketing – as you will see below.
Boise’s Oliver Russell figured this out three years ago and blasted past their western state borders to become a global player.
Here is my interview with Oliver Russell’s CEO Russ Stoddard. Russ started Oliver Russell in 1991 and he and his agency have become leaders in the world of marketing purpose-driven companies, sustainability initiatives, and socially responsible organizations to help them better compete in the marketplace. Russ’s dedication to a category focus has delivered on his objective of becoming a global player.
Russ Stoddard Has Gone Global
Peter: What’s up?
Russ: I’m Russ Stoddard, and I’m a social entrepreneur. I have a creative marketing agency in Boise, Idaho, that works with purpose-driven companies.
Peter: How is business these days?
Russ: For us, it’s going remarkably well. We’ve got an area of specialty and differentiation, which means we actually have people coming to us, rather than having to chase clients down.
Peter: That’s great news. In terms of agency history, has that always been the case, or did you switch to a more specialized perspective at some point in recent history?
Russ: We’ve been around 27 years, and it took me 23 of those to finally take the medicine.
Four years ago, we repositioned very strongly around working with purpose-driven companies, which we define as those that have a very intentional bent around creating a product, service or business model that benefits society. [Read more…] about How A Boise Advertising Agency Went Global