For companies looking to hire a marketing agency, making a decision is usually dependent on accepting certain tradeoffs. You can either get the boutique provider that’s energetic and responsive to your needs, or go with a bigger outfit that has more resources and a recognized brand name.

Strunk Media Group has tried to eschew that binary choice, and it’s proving to be a winning formula. The American firm prides itself on providing the full menu of options that clients need, from website design and digital advertising to print and billboard marketing. But the eight-employee team also conveys a unique, playful attitude that’s in line with its young, tight-knit staff. “We’re different on purpose,” says co-founder and CEO Matthew Strunk.

Since its inception in 2015, the agency has already garnered over 40 clients who have bought into its “all of the above” message. Based in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, a town in the United States with just over 5,000 residents, the burgeoning company has found success by recognizing trends and finding creative ways to adapt.

“There is no doubt that the marketing industry will continue to transform with the evolution of the internet, but successful and proactive marketing professionals evolve with it,” says Strunk, who continues to serve as a U.S. Air Force reservist, even as he steers the company through a period of swift growth.

“While traditional advertising methods are still relevant, Strunk Media has been using online methods such as Facebook advertising, Google AdWords, YouTube, Pandora commercials and ringless voice drops delivered directly to consumer cell phones,” he says. “These methods have proven successful through higher impression rates, more involved customer engagement and specific targeting capabilities.”

Whereas marketing companies are sometimes seen as places where creativity is valued more than strategy, Strunk and his team are trying to meld the two. Each marketing campaign is created specifically for the needs of a given client and based on extensive research, he says.. For example, customers who hire the group for digital services receive a web audit that addresses weaknesses in their internet presence, something that helps the agency design a targeted action plan.

Realizing a Dream

In 2017, Strunk Media took home not one, but two Stevie Awards at The American Business Awards in New York City. The firm earned the Silver Stevie for “Startup of the Year” in the Business Services category and a Bronze Stevie for “Veteran-Owned Business of the Year.”

“As a new company, winning the Stevie Awards has given Strunk Media Group validation that its marketing methods are working,” Strunk says. “These awards are the first nationally-based recognition Strunk has received, which is a tremendous accomplishment.”

“Recognition from these awards will grow awareness of our brand, helping it meet new potential clients and become a better-known company,” he added.

For all the acclaim the company has received in a short period of time, the company nearly didn’t get off the ground. Strunk recalls having to think twice before leaving a steady job overseeing marketing for a local auto dealership.

“The biggest challenge we faced was gaining the courage to leave safe careers and risk everything for a business that could become amazingly successful or be a tremendous flop,” he says. “It’s easy to talk about your dreams, but implementing action to achieve those dreams takes an immense amount of energy, time and money. But once our plan was in motion, the needed energy to continue pushing forward has not been lacking in the slightest.”

In Strunk’s case, starting a new venture involves an added challenge: having a CEO who could be called into active military duty on short notice. Strunk says he’s tried to develop a team that’s as committed to the organization’s success as he is, something that will certainly pay off should his reserve unit ever be deployed.

“Each member of the company cares about delivering the highest quality work for clients while pursuing innovative ways to obtain new business and help the company grow,” he says.

Building chemistry amongst employees is a key part of that enthusiasm, and it’s something staff members try to do outside the office as well, whether it’s a weekly happy hour or a team lunch.

“These casual bonding moments help the team get to know their co-workers, strengthening the Strunk bond,” he says.

RapidValue is a leading provider of end-to-end digital transformation solutions for enterprises worldwide. Its digital solutions span across mobile, cloud, IoT and omni-channels to help improve productivity, stream business workflow, reduce operational cost and achieve higher ROI. They won the Gold Stevie^® Award in The 2017 International Business Awards for Marketing Department of the Year.

Rapid Growth

RapidValue, headquartered in Pleasanton, CA, in the United States, was founded in 2008 and has grown year-over-year since its inception. With eight global offices, 450+ employees, 600+ projects delivered and 15+ international global corporate awards, it’s safe to say recognition is in order. Kavyanidhi Narayan is the Marketing Manager at RapidValue and is proud of the attention the company is receiving for its hard work.

“RapidValue is extremely proud of winning the Gold Stevie Award for Marketing Department of the Year. This international award boosts company visibility in the global market and brings in confidence to the management and business development teams in upsurging the revenue for the organization.”

RapidValue is also proud to have some of the world’s top brands, Fortune 1000 firms and innovative product startups as their customers.

Driven by Innovation

Technology is evolving every day as businesses try to keep up. RapidValue considers itself to be a fast-paced emerging firm that builds solutions with cutting-edge technologies. Its collective enthusiasm is driven by its fascination of new marketing ideas for solution launches, branding and executing innovative ideas quickly. Narayan believes, “the most interesting part is incorporating new-age marketing solutions to increase brand awareness.”

Kavyanidhi supports the pursuit of balanced work-life relationships. RapidValue is rich in culture with a diverse team, so celebrating all festivals throughout the year is important to them.

“We have many talented employees. They perform dances, play musical instruments and participate in sporting events,” says Kavyanidhi. “This inspires the team to have bonding experiences that promote enthusiasm to work cohesively.”

Apart from leading the 17-member marketing team, Kavyanidhi is also an athlete and has won many championships in track & field events. She also has her own sports club for children called Galloper, which she pursues on the weekends.

From Small Beginnings to Big Destinations

RapidValue’s marketing team’s lead generation and brand building has upsurged the company revenue. In 2016-17, the team contributed 30% of the company’s revenue through marketing initiatives that netted five big customer wins. There has also been a 20% increase in sales compared to 2015 through 12 road shows, technology events and global awards

“RapidValue’s marketing team is closely knit with cross-functional teams to increase the visibility of RapidValue and the business development team, to generate leads and to drive customer wins. We motivate the entire organization to contribute through leadership articles and whitepapers.”

Kavyanidhi also believes that building the right relationship with stakeholders and working closely as a team is what brings success—not just for themselves, but also for the organization.

“This team has proved that a small group can make a difference in transforming a three-member startup into one of the fastest emerging companies in the world.”

Brand activation agency Geometry Global nominated Time Warner Cable Business Class in the Marketing Campaign of the Year category of The 2016 American Business Awards. The campaign won a Gold Stevie Award. 

Interested in submitting nominations for marketing awards or any of the other 200+ awards categories in The 2017 American Business Awards? Review the entry kit here.

To learn a bit more about the Manhattan-based agency who submitted Stevie-winning nominations on behalf of Time Warner Cable, we connected with Account Supervisor Riley Sistrunk. Located in the “Chocolate factory” building, our appetites were sufficiently whetted.

“Geometry Global is the world’s most effective brand activation agency driving action conversion, and purchase through award-winning programs for our clients.” Riley began, “Our expertise includes shopper, digital, experiential, relationship, promotional and trade marketing.”

If you haven’t worked at a Agency in New York City, you may wonder what folks like Riley do, so we asked and Riley answered, “As Account Supervisor, I serve as a day-to-day lead for our Time Warner Cable Business Class client – partnering together to identify new opportunities for their business, oversee creative development of those ideas and act as their voice for our internal teams and third-party partners. It’s a great opportunity to get to build a strong client relationship and master the category.”

When asked about Geometry Global’s vision, Riley let us know, “Our organization is built around the belief that brand activation is not about sell, sell, sell but inspiring people to buy well. It is an approach to our work that transforms brand equity into action through pivotal ideas. Ideas that create meaningful, valued engagements with people at the precise right moment that matters to them and connects them to the product, service or brand that best meets their need.”

Time Warner Cable is a well known brand so we asked a bit more about the story behind the award submission. “While it’s a fairly common practice for our agency to submit for awards, we were particularly keen on submitting this campaign for nomination because its timing.” Sistrunk replied, “The challenges facing our clients’ business from their acquisition were mounting and with the positive results of the campaign it made a great ‘betting the odds’ story for us to tell.”

“We first learned of the Stevies while searching for competitive samples for a category audit.” Riley continued, “Our competitors had been known to submit for this award and after a little research into the Stevie American Business Award we decided it was the right award for our team to be entering into as well.”

Winning awards is always exciting but we wondered what it was like for an agency to win “Campaign of the Year.” Riley obliged with a story. “The announcement of our win could not have been more timely. We found out about our win while on a shoot for the next quarter’s production of the campaign. A big cheers erupted around the set as we made to the announcement to our team, clients and crew. It was a wonderful honor to be named Marketing Campaign of the Year (Internet/Telecom) by the Stevie Awards. Our clients and teams are extremely proud of the campaign, so to be recognized further our belief in the strength of this work.”

Riley continued, “This win has further strengthened our partnership with our clients. A win like this is always a welcome opportunity to celebrate success with our clients and a chance to be awarded additional projects because of it. Also, it’s be great for our clients within their own organization. Awards demonstrate to their fellow teams and leadership internally that they are high-achieving brand stewards for the corporation and will be increasingly relied as subject matter experts.”

What of results? We wondered how winning the award has affected Geometry Global. “This campaign and the results from it have gone on to be used as leading B2B and Telecom case study for our agency in new business pitches.” Riley recounted, “Our pitch teams have found it extremely valuable to showcase our capabilities and expertise within the category.”

We wanted to understand what drives folks like Riley in the ultra-competitive agency world in NYC. “I find two sources of inspiration to continue my work. Tangibly, there’s an excitement for our work, an urgency to every project that makes coming in to meet with a team of high-energy people to tackle a new assignment very rewarding.” Said Sistrunk, “There’s a great sense of accomplishment building something from scratch. More conceptually, I continue to be inspired to pursue this line of work for its opportunity to influence culture at large. As advertisers, we have the skill to reflect back an attitude or view of society with a new interpretation, much the way an artist does. That power to inspire change in others toward a goal is what makes this job so attractive compared to other business disciplines.”

Since change is the only constant, we asked Riley about his predictions of the future of the industry. “Advertising is a very flexible and fluid industry. There are many creators out there pushing forward with new ideas, testing and learning as they go and challenging everyone to keep pace. In the future, I see a shift to even more branded storytelling as consumers increasingly reject old ways of doing business and have begun to explore more socially conscience products. Creating and communicating an own-able brand identity that aligns with these new consumer expectations for a different economic model will be key to future success.” Riley mused, “And, the sooner we embrace those trends, the sooner we can position ourselves as thought leaders in the space.”

Learn more about Geometry Global at http://www.geometry.com/us