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It’s anything but business as usual at
bigwidesky. The new marketing and
creative services company calls itself a
virtual agency largely because there are no layers of management and few employees. Instead, bigwidesky produces marketing projects by using a nationwide talent pool of freelancers and specialty shops. Clients have access to the best local and national talent, while the core team at bigwidesky manages the day-to-day project.
And while bigwidesky offers many of the marketing and creative services found at more traditional advertising agencies—such as online marketing, website development and integrated ad campaigns—their untraditional approach is bringing them new clients and award-winning projects.
Dan Klein, a founder and managing principal, explains the company’s concept. “We are a marketing production firm doing large-scale work without the big agency fees and overhead,” says Klein. “We provide strategic direction and project management like large agencies, but we have access to a talent pool of more than150 independent producers.”
The three principals who started bigwidesky are Dan Klein, Eliot Frick and Mike Behr.
They met when they worked together at the now 25-year old advertising agency, Maring Weissman. Bigwidesky still operates from Maring Weissman’s offices in the Central West End, and even shares client projects with the agency. In the case of The Gateway Arch for example, Maring Weissman is the advertising agency of record, while bigwidesky is the interactive partner and makes enhancements to the website and designed several online promotions, including the Lewis & Clark.
Bigwidesky offers a variety of marketing services from strategic planning, including brand positioning and marketing and business development strategy, to interactive marketing such as website development, viral marketing and online marketing. Services also include advertising, sales collateral, and sales promotion.
A sampling of bigwidesky projects includes redesigning the website for St. Louis Children’s Hospital; producing an integrated marketing campaign last year for the RCGA’s Technology Gateway Council; and working with RE/MAX Gold to produce an integrated marketing campaign with e-newsletters, a series of e-mail postcards along with outbound calling. The campaign has been enhanced with public relations efforts and magazine ads, as well.
Creative Director Eliot Frick further explains the idea behind bigwidesky. “We are a community of strategists, marketers, producers, project managers, writers, designers, programmers, etc. Clients are part of the community too.”
Frick continues, “While the idea of bringing the best consultants together is not entirely new, the way we do it on a much larger scale is new for St. Louis. In fact, the concept of our business model on this larger level truly is different because we combine strategy, creative and selling within a community of the 150 most talented people.”
The third bigwidesky principle is Mike Behr, whose career includes seven years with the May Company. He also served on the RCGA’s Technology Gateway Council and was awarded the “Gate Award” in 2003 for his contributions. Behr says bigwidesky’s business model allows them to offer high quality creative and strategic services similar to a large agency, but in more flexible way.
Carrie Jaynes, vice president of client services and also a principal, rounds out the team and oversees production of all projects from concept through execution.
The bigwidesky way of doing business has proved to be successful since the company became official in January 2004. In its first year of operation, bigwidesky completed more than 100 projects and generated over $300 thousand in revenues. In 2005, monthly revenue for May was 42 percent higher than it was four months earlier. The firm should break $1 million this year with no signs of slowing down.
The company also won two awards at the 2005 IABC Bronze Quill Awards for the 10th anniversary logo for the St. Louis Rams and the new website they designed for St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
But how is the company really different? In a recent interview, the company’s
three principals shared their thoughts on
bigwidesky’s business model. > > >
Q. Why did you start bigwidesky?
Dan Klein: “I had worked for both startups and big companies and was tired of feeling like my job was always at risk. I wanted to work with the people I wanted to work with, doing what I love. There were many others who felt the same way. The bigwidesky model was developed in a matter of months and we continue to refine as we grow.”
Eliot Frick: “I started my own company tapping into the network of my creative peers. We talked about it in an informal way for quite awhile, and then finalized the model and validated it by finishing our first project, a video for Alberici Constructors.”
Mike Behr: “We had a feeling there was a void in the marketplace for small to mid-size companies who wanted top-notch creative and marketing services. Large ad agencies were too expensive and freelancers can be hard to find and manage. We bring together the best of both, much like a construction company builds a fine home by using the best subcontractors and overseeing the entire project from start-to-finish.”
Q. What role do each
of you fill at the company?
Dan: “As chief energy officer, my primary responsibility is to shake trees and develop new business relationships for bigwidesky through various speaking engagements and networking activities. I also energize the
bigwidesky community by having networking events for people in our community.”
Mike: “My title is chief catalyst and I handle the day-to-day management of the company (operations, finance, recruiting talent, etc.), provide strategic direction, and I also wear a sales hat. I act as the lead marketing and brand strategist at the front end of client engagements or campaigns.”
Eliot: “I perform the duties of a creative director and also on a higher level I have the role of chief philosopher taking stock of big picture concepts in the marketing industry, mulling them over, and sharing them during creative sessions.”
Q. How is bigwidesky different from
more traditional advertising agencies?
Eliot: “Instead of making media vehicles drive a campaign, we turn it around and lead with the concept, then we determine the media to support it. Essentially we focus on the story that needs to be told and then how to tell it.”
Dan: “Bigwidesky is very easy to engage. As a client, you can select us on a project-by-project basis without long-term retainer fees. Our key difference is the depth of talent that we can access for each project. We are fun to work with and bring innovative thinking to our clients.”
Mike: “As stewards of the industry, we are exploring and implementing cutting-edge marketing strategies and tactics that have never been done before. Clients get access to the very best creative and strategic thinking for their business.”
Q. What does your name mean?
Eliot: “The big sky is associated with ideation. The open terrain allows for constant creative concepting. The big sky is associated with the Midwest with the wide-open terrain in view corralled by honesty. The whole technology angle works well allowing clients to do more than they have ever done before.”
Q. Give an example of a new
marketing technique at bigwidesky.
Mike: “‘White Elephant’ marketing is a great example of the innovation that bigwidesky helps foster. We are one of four companies who formed a joint venture to provide a turn-key targeted marketing system in which we help business-to-business clients strategize, concept and create integrated campaigns. We call it ‘White Elephant,’ because lack of consistent and effective lead generation or prospecting activity often exists, but clients aren’t always sure how to deal with it.
We strategize the campaign, concept
it creatively, develop all the creative
elements (post cards/print pieces, call scripts, e-marketing, campaign website, presentations, whatever else makes sense), create web-based tracking systems, make outbound calls, and execute the campaign. Its great for lead generation, fundraising campaigns—anything associated with a significant sale or donation. It’s a real one-to-one personalized approach.”
Q. Has the St. Louis community been receptive to the bigwidesky concept?
Dan: “What I love about doing business in St. Louis is the feeling of one degree of separation. Though I am not a St. Louis native
(I am originally from San Francisco and moved here from Chicago), it’s not who you know, but who you get to know.”
“A challenge is that what bigwidesky offers is a new way of approaching business. Not all companies are quick to grasp it. St. Louis is known to be somewhat of a traditional town. We hope to change that with more companies taking advantage of our new business model.”
“Overall, the St. Louis community works well for the bigwidesky model. We get recognition quickly since everyone in our community knows someone.” |
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