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Award Recipient
Communications
Tim Rodgers and Tom Townsend
Rodgers Townsend
Tom Townsend
(seated) and Tim Rodgers
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Tim Rodgers
and Tom Townsend have their own definitions of an entrepreneur.
“People who have the belief they can do something better with the
will and the guts to try. And regardless of how successful they
might be, they’re always restless, looking for a better way.”
They put their definition to work when they took a leap of faith
and left the security of D’Arcy Advertising to start their own advertising
agency in 1996. Townsend had been with the company 10 years and
had won numerous major creative awards and Rodgers had been with
D’Arcy for 20 years, having been named early in his career, at age
26, the youngest vice president in the history of D’Arcy.
The two felt the time was right to strike out on their own and they
borrowed a conference room with one desk. The company now occupies
two-and-one-half floors of office space in downtown St. Louis and
each employee has his own desk! Employee growth has jumped from
two people to 60 in the past four years. Furthermore, sales have
nearly tripled over the past three years. The agency has grown to
more than $70 million in less than five years of operation.
Today Rodgers Townsend creates marketing and advertising campaigns
for consumer and business-to-business products and services. Their
services include brand positioning, advertising, direct marketing,
media planning and buying, online/interactive marketing, corporate
identity and logo design, and collateral and sales tools.
Rodgers Townsend’s first big client was RightCHOICE Healthcare,
still a client today. Other clients include SBC, First Bank, Ameren
UE, the St. Louis Rams, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Maritz and
Forest Park Forever.
In its six years of operation, Rodgers Townsend has achieved some
noteworthy accomplishments. For the second year in a row, the agency
won more first place ADDY awards (creative awards in the advertising
industry) than any other agency. Rodgers Townsend was also honored
with the “Spirit of St. Louis Award” by former Mayor Harmon for
donating more than $1 million in pro bono work for community organizations.
Their most recent coup is winning the advertising work for a major
brand from Silicon Valley—Microsoft’s Ultimate TV.
For Rodgers and Townsend, one of the best parts of owning their
own business is the pride and satisfaction of knowing that what
they believed would work, actually does. Conversely, they say that
with growth they must keep a constant watch not to lose sight of
why they started the company in the first place.
With an eye on the future, Rodgers and Townsend say they will continue
to build the company based on solid client relationships and by
attracting, stimulating and retaining the best people in the business.
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