Local experts share thoughts on this year’s marketing communications shifts
How is your agency adjusting to a post-pandemic market?
ADAMS:We designed the CROP facility and studio to be a creative space for both our employees and our clients. Obviously, we didn’t have a lot of visitors last year. And we also dealt with some of our staff periodically working from home. So, we are delighted that we, for the most part, are in a post-pandemic atmosphere which means we can collaborate more with our clients in person, invite them over to be a part of the creative process, and ultimately produce better content that hits the mark. So far, we’ve seen a surge in business, and we feel we are very fortunate to be positioned for a good year. I honestly feel we aren’t so much adjusting to a new market; we are just getting back to normal.
Collins: We have been fully working from home and have adapted our processes and communications in order to continue telling stories on behalf of our clients. A good majority of our team is fully vaccinated, so we have slowly begun a voluntary return to the office in the interest of collaboration and strategic planning. Our teams have appreciated our continued commitment to safety and flexibility as we all consider the evolving, post-pandemic work environment.
We have not slowed down in any aspect of our client work. In fact, we have had one of the busiest years in our 18-year history. This year, we have safely and effectively produced more videos and photoshoots than any other previous year—all with less travel, more remote and virtual productions, and with limited personnel at shoots, while establishing rigorous sanitary measures. It has taken careful planning and dedication by our team to accomplish the aggressive production schedules and campaign launches we have successfully implemented during these trying times.
We have also maximized the use of animations and illustrations, when the story/message is appropriate for these approaches, in order to facilitate the production and, in some cases, reduce the production time.
GORDON: We recognize that our world is pivoting to a more virtual format. We were ahead of the curve since we already merged with a digital marketing agency. We offer our clients a full marketing partner experience with cohesive advertising in both traditional and digital media. While some marketing firms outsource to people in other countries, we try to stick with our local, experienced talent.
This paradigm shift to digital marketing and cloud-based computing has allowed us to have a record year at Fisher Design & Advertising, reaching our highest revenue in 32 years.
Guiry:Adjusting is a way of life for an agency—you’re always adapting to a new client, a client’s new management team, new marketing technology, new competitors, new products, and so forth, so it’s pretty much evolution-as-usual for us. It’s definitely great being able to meet with people in person again when we want.
Spear:Without the benefit of trade events, and a majority of businesses delaying investments until markets open up once again, utilizing untapped capacity and finding new opportunities has been difficult. Recognizing that a large part of our business involves international travel, and borders only now starting to open, I’d say we’ve endured more than we’ve adjusted. Were it not for a few loyal and longstanding clients, online conferencing, and a little bit of government support in terms of PPP loans, our sustainability could have been seriously jeopardized.
