Finally! A Positive Outlook for the Washington DC Advertising Community

Cary Hatch [MDB CEO]

This article was originally posted at Capital Communicator on 1/25/2012

With the 2012 presidential election, the summer Olympics and emerging positive economic growth on the horizon, the advertising industry is expected to experience exponential growth.  Importantly, these events bring new advertising opportunities, which many advertisers are bound to capitalize on now.  Today, the economy is in a much healthier state than it was back in 2008 and 2009, and companies are reinvesting in their advertising efforts. These developments will undoubtedly give rise to increased advertising spending, which will positively affect the local economy in Washington, DC and the nation at large.

Many of us will soon be seeking shelter from the throng of repetitive presidential ads – there’s also the silver lining of political spending that will favorably impact many a media outlet’s bottom line in 2012. Given the 2010 Supreme Court ruling, allowing Super PACs (Political Action Committees), to spend an unrestricted amount of money for political campaigns, there is virtually an unlimited flow of media investments to be made. By the end of December 2011, USA Today reported that candidate-specific PACs spent more than $6.8 million already. 

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Something of Pinterest

By: Laura Chwirut [MDB Art Director]

Virtual Sources of Inspiration

In a 140 character world, we art directors aren’t left out. We have our own quick-glimpse social media communities that we use to keep inspired and help develop our work and our styles.

So, when considering color combinations, graphical style, photo art direction, and use of typography, we sometimes turn to…what else…the Internet! Over the past few years, two important visual bookmarking/visual sharing sites have come to prominence within the virtual world, Dribbble and Pinterest.

Dribbble.com is basically “show and tell” for creatives. On Dribbble, designers, illustrators, developers and other creatives share “shots”— 400×300 pixels snippits— of designs they’re working on.

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Back to the Future: Reflections and Predictions 2012

By: Cary Hatch [MDB CEO]

[Back To The Future Title ©1986 Universal Studios]

As 2012 unfolds, if you are a leader willing to embrace change (and invest the time and resources to capitalize on them) there are considerable challenges that present significant opportunities for the next three to five years.

With three decades of advertising experience, I learned early on that our success is based solely on the value we provide (and continue to provide) for our clients. In our industry (as with most) that means “leaning forward” to pursue knowledge and to examine and vet methods and channels that can advance our clients brands.  Period.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s take time to adapt and adopt now – or risk becoming irrelevant. Here’s our take on 10 items of note for the coming years.

1. The Velocity of change. Never before have our lives been as significantly impacted by the velocity of change. Yes, we’ve all seen change over the last several decades – but none as rapid as the period we’re in right now. In order to continue to provide value and counsel to our brand leader clients, we must remain “curious” and continue to learn in order to lead.

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30 Lessons Learned from a 30 year Veteran

By: Cary Hatch [MDB CEO]

As the principal of an advertising agency celebrating our 30^th anniversary, I learned early on that our success is based solely on the value we provide (and continue to provide) for our clients. In our industry (as with most) that means “leaning forward” to pursue knowledge and to examine and vet methods and channels that can advance our clients brands.  Period.

 I continue to ask our team, partners and vendors one simple question. If we don’t continue to be a renaissance resource in brand leadership, why would anyone hire us? We continue to lead the charge on new and emerging marketing fronts. Including SEM and social media monitoring, among others.

While we take time to reflect on our humble beginnings in 1981 (when MTV was introduced, the IBM PC was announced, and long before the internet) we also relish our growth and diversified services, and numerous business and industry awards. Who knew that we’d be currently leading a national search engine marketing campaign touted by Google as one of the most successful case studies to date, or that we’d have the privilege over the last 30 years to work for brands like Sprint, National Geographic, Boston Market, the DC Lottery, the US Mint and the recently announced International Spy Museum? 

It may be luck, pluck or our date of origins good karma…but the fact that we’re still here doing work that works for our clients, is something just short of amazing. As one of the largest independent advertising agencies in Washington DC, we salute our clients and partners, and the many employees over the last three decades who have fueled our success – and the success of the clients we’ve had the good fortune to represent.

Here’s my take on the top 30 lessons learned:

1. Believe in yourself (in spite of others). Don’t let others define you or marginalize you.
2. Relationships are not just for now – but for the future.
3. Invest in the moment – it pays off in the long run.
4. Give and do more than what’s “required.”

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