Advertising : Innovation & Job News

Metro Detroit made quite the impression on Lawrence James when he worked in the region more than a few years ago. The United Kingdom expatriate referenced that experience when he convinced his current company, The Frameworks, to set up shop in Metro Detroit.

"I found Michigan to be a really great place," says James, senior partner with The Frameworks. "The people are amazing. The economy goes up and down but there is a solid infrastructure in place."

Of course there were some good business reasons for making the decision, too. James' partner wanted to set up the global branding firm's North American headquarters in either Chicago, San Francisco or New York City. James made the argument about why expanding in Metro Detroit made better business sense.

"There are great people here. That's talent," James says. "The cost of entry is affordable and the people here are warm and welcoming."

That decision was made in 2010 and the London-based firm set up shop in Troy. It now employs a dozen full-time employees, three part-timers and an intern after making six hires over the last year.

That staff now services some big client names, such as IBM, Bloomberg and Toshiba Americas. IBM has expanded its business with The Frameworks, which now works with the multi-national corporation's safety and technology groups.

Source: Lawrence James, senior partner with The Frameworks
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Axis CrossMedia knows that once it grows comfortable in its space, it will soon become uncomfortable whether it likes it or not.

The Troy-based creative agency has continued to grow in recent years by working to stay ahead of the technology curve.

"Constant reinvention. Constant keeping up with market demand and being able to assimilate with new technologies," says Lee Kirchner, principal & creative director of Axis CrossMedia. "There isn't a lot we don't do in house."

The 14-year-old company started out by providing creative services for print media. That evolved into web development and then mobile. It also keeps its creative chops sharp. Today the only thing the company doesn't do is print production.

Axis CrossMedia recently hired an art director/designer, a move that expanded its staff to 10 people.

Source: Lee Kirchner, principal & creative director of Axis CrossMedia
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Four friends worked in the marketing world of Metro Detroit's automotive sector for years and years and then decided they wanted something more. So they started Driven Ferndale eight years ago and haven't looked back.

"We saw the need to break off and build a better mouse trap," says Kevin Woods, one of the co-founders and COO of Driven Ferndale.

The Ferndale-based business prides itself on being a boutique marketing agency with the capability of doing the big things that the major players do. Its secret sauce is its nimbleness and creativity, which has allowed it to grow its bottom line by 20 percent this year. The company has also hired four people over the last 12 months, expanding its staff to 20 employees and three interns.

"We have been taking on bigger agencies more effectively," Woods says, comparing his small business to a local credit union taking on a national bank.

Driven Ferndale has done that well in 2012, signing a few national accounts, including Super Stroke, a putter grip for golfers. Woods expects his company to continue to sign more clients with a national reach this year, which should help his firm double its business.

Source: Kevin Woods, COO of Driven Ferndale
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

GSTV is fleshing out both its presence in major advertising markets across North America and its staff in downtown Birmingham.

The nearly 7-year-old company has added 12 positions to its workforce, expanding its staff to 60 employees and a couple of summer interns. It has more than a dozen open jobs now for positions in sales, marketing, business development, human resources and software development.

"We have gotten very busy in terms of hiring," says David Leider, CEO of GSTV. "We needed to hire a recruiter to handle it. We have 15 positions open now."

GSTV, formerly Gas Station TV, is the company that puts the TVs on top of gas station pumps. The screens flash news, weather forecasts and commercials during a couple of minutes when motorists are paused in their commute and looking for something to focus on.

The concept has taken off. GSTV is now in 1,900 gas stations across the nation, collecting 39 million monthly viewers. That's up from 1,300 stations. GSTV is in 36 states and every major media market in North America, doubling its presence in cities like Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago. It expects to continue fleshing out its presence in 2013.

"We continue to grow quickly," Leider says. "By April we will have 2,000 stations and 40 million monthly viewers all over the country."

Source: David Leider, CEO of GSTV
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The Coil Group, a combination marketing and mobile app firm, is sinking roots in downtown Rochester.

The 10-month-old company was working from coffee shops and home offices of its founders, Jim Brown and Jon Pielak, in Rochester until it scored a small office in the city's central business district. Brown and Pielak have been looking at office space in downtown Royal Oak and Detroit but choose Rochester because of the dynamic downtown and easy access to free parking.

"The downtown is vibrant," says Brown, president of Coil Group. "There are lots of great restaurants and coffee shops. We thought the small urban setting would be great for people who would want to work for us."

The Coil Group specializes in providing both mobile apps and traditional marketing services to mid-size businesses. The company's bread and butter is having expertise in both niches. A small mobile app start-up might not have marketing expertise, or a marketing firm might be lacking in mobile app knowledge.

That business plan has allowed the Coil Group to grow to 10 people and it is looking at adding interns this summer. It has experienced most of its early growth from word-of-mouth referrals from some of its first projects.

"We have built a network of relationships across the state of Michigan," Brown says. "That has opened a lot of doors. A lot of people have embraced us."

Source: Jim Brown, president of Coil Group
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The advertising firm Organic continues to grow its presence in Bloomfield Hills. The firm has hired 20 people over the last year, expanding its Metro Detroit office to 120 people.

Driving this growth is the continued work from relatively new clients like Kimberly-Clark and Hilton Worldwide. Organic now handles five more brands within the Kimberly-Clark business. It has also landed work with Volkswagon, which company executives are promoting as quite the coup.

"That was a big accomplishment for us," says Joe DiMeglio, senior vice president & general manager of Organic.

DiMeglio expects most of the company's growth to come from within its existing customer base in 2013. That growth should allow the firm to continue hiring at a brisk pace next year.

"There is a ton of opportunity for us there," DiMeglio says.

Source: Joe DiMeglio, senior vice president & general manager of Organic
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The folks behind Brilliant Chemistry are so creative that they not only came up with a clever name for their tech-based marketing agency but they came up with an original way of describing it.

"We don't like to be called an agency," says Carl Rundell, partner with Brilliant Chemistry. "We liked to be called an ideation studio."

The downtown Royal Oak-based firm more accurately bills itself as a "creative technology and ideation studio." And it has been living up to that billing it its first year of doing business. The company has been creating awareness for its crowdfunding app, eRaise, through a campaign to purchase the Hostess brands (think Twinkies and Ding Dongs) with crowd-funded capital called "Dough for Hostess."

It also recently created an anti-bullying app for Defeat the Label, which is non-profit organization with the mission to make an impact against bullying. The app will help students report bullying anonymously, engage the bullying through a national call center and analyze data collected from it.

"We wanted to create a ubiquitous application that can fit across any organization," Rundell says.

Brilliant Chemistry employs six people and the occasional intern.

Source: Carl Rundell, partner with Brilliant Chemistry
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Gas Station TV is well on its way to becoming an American household name, or at least a ubiquitous brand in gas stations across the U.S.

The downtown Birmingam-based business, also known as GSTV, specializes in providing TV advertising at gas stations aimed at motorists filling up. The 6-year-old company's gas station fuel pump TVs capture a couple of minutes of downtime when patrons are fueling their vehicles. These TVs can be found in just about every major metro area in North America and the company continues to blanket the continent with its growth.

"The media world is changing," says David Leider, CEO of Gas Station TV. "The traditional media broadcast is not meeting the expectations of the past. DVR is going to penetrate 50 percent of the market by the end of this year and more people will fast forward through commercials."

Gas station patrons can't fast forward through Gas Station TV's commercials while filling up. It's why the company has spread into markets like Milwaukee, Baltimore, Columbus, Albuquerque, South Bend and Grand Rapids. Gas Station TV is also looking to add Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Harrisburg over the next year.

"The business has been very strong," Leider says. "We have added 300 stations this year and we have expanded into new markets."

This market growth has allowed Gas Station TV to significantly increase its employee base, hiring 28 people over the last year. It currently has a staff of 79 employees and one intern and has job postings for 11 more positions.

Source: David Leider, CEO of Gas Station TV
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Organic was a large advertising firm with some big accounts from major corporate players, like Chrysler and Bank of America. Then the economy crashed in 2008 and those big contracts went up in smoke.

Fortunately for the West Bloomfield-based agency, it had already started diversifying its client base to position itself for growth while other local players in the advertising world went out of business. Today, Organic counts the likes of mid-sized corporations like Kimberly-Clark and Hilton Worldwide as top clients.

"We had been working hard to diversify before that," says James Heughens, general manager of Organic. "Those were huge wins for us."

Organic has been able to maintain its stafffing at 350 people worldwide, with a Metro Detroit staff of 150. The 12-year-old firm is aiming to get back into automotive work in order to hire more people, especially those with a technology background.

"The size and nature of that work is good for our people," Heughens says. "We're pushing hard to get back into it, both locally and with the imports."

Source: James Heughens, general manager of Organic
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.