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Brad Copeland/President
Iconologic
How would you characterize 2001 in terms of your business or industry in general? Flat, frustrating and at times humbling. The upside, and there definitely is a silver-lining, is that times like these force companies to focus, or refocus, on their core competencies. We’re no different, and believe that we will ultimately benefit by playing to our strengths, and leveraging relationships with like-minded companies worldwide whose skill sets are a logical extension of ours. This is something that was already in the works before the downturn began, and today I am convinced is the best way to continue to achieve our goals and attract the type of new business we are targeting.
What has most affected your ongoing business in particular? We are lucky in that our business was in a position where no single issue or item hit us hard; however, the sum of several small items did affect us. A few residual bad debts from the dotcom implosion, some business development that went dormant from the resulting economic downturn and the paralysis that hit pending contracts with ongoing clients created a few headaches along the way.
Have you taken any drastic steps or gone through any upheaval? Have times been better than ever? We’ve had to make a few difficult staffing decisions, but have continued to maintain and develop our unique structural model and begun to look at more outsourcing and the development of a strong network of freelance. There is so much great freelance talent available that we are looking forward to tapping into it in all areas of our business.
Are you maintaining business now or moving forward or moving backward? Is there a rainbow at the end of this storm? One of our goals this year was to move away from the project-specific business that was so prevalent in 2000 and to develop new partner-type accounts to complement our existing client base. We were fortunate to do that and picked up several significant pieces of business that require the use of all of the disciplines of our collaborative offering— strategy, design, interactive, and advertising. Fortunately, we didn’t lose any accounts during the year. After Sept. 11, however, a lot of projected business went into the holding tank, but in the last few weeks the phone has been ringing briskly again. Core clients are beginning to move forward on large assignments—a good sign that things are about to break loose.
How has the financial drama of 2001 affected your business, from the highs to the lows? I honestly believe that the reputation that we’ve built over the last 20 years helped a great deal this year. I was amazed last year to see all of the new companies that popped up in our space. I’m even more amazed now to see how many more are no longer around. The drama has left us thankful for the great client relationships we have maintained and built through the years.
What do you see changing for your business in the year 2002? How will your industry change? Creative products, strategies, and the use of media must become more relevant—more real. It's no longer good enough to have a cool website, it's no longer good enough to create beautiful communications tools; audiences are now more media-savvy than ever and more cautious than ever—so marketing messages must resonate with the audiences as authentic, they must connect with them as something true. Creativity will ultimately be more important than ever, but it must be extended deeper into the clients’ businesses that we work for and become much less superficial.
What do you think clients will want to see from you? How are clients changing the ways they spend and what they want to see for their dollar? What do you think are the lowest dollar, highest bang ways your client can market themselves? I think clients are looking for creative, cost-effective ideas, and the confidence that agencies are not just interested in selling ads and marketing services, but selling solutions to their problems. But to do that they need to have confidence that the agency has the client’s best interests in mind —not only that of the agency. And they want partners who listen. We believe that the biggest opportunities and the most bang for the buck are in the development of non-traditional, media neutral solutions, customized to clients needs and budgets—driven by out-of-the-box creativity. And we believe that now is the time for clients to maximize their marketing investment, since if everyone else decides not to market, those that do will stand out even more.
What new accounts have you won over the last year? Dow Carpet Backing, Kilpatrick Stockton Attorneys at Law, American Le Mans Series.