As some of you know, I recently merged my business, Tortorella Design, with Odell Advertising/Marketing, Inc. [insert disclaimer >I didn’t link those because the TD site isn’t too relevant anymore and Odell’s is being redesigned.] As I write this, I’m sitting in my office with the nifty, new title of Senior Account Manager. That’s a fancy way of saying I’m a sales and marketing guy.

If you’ve been reading, you’ll probably think, “Hey Neil, what gives? You said sales and marketing aren’t the same thing.” Alas you’re correct. But, I really am a sales and marketing guy. Read on and find out how.

The position, company and people are great. The office being less than 3/4 mile from my house doesn’t hurt, either. When I had my business in my home, I had a two-second commute from the bedroom to the office in the morning. Although I wear a suit to work these days instead of jeans and t-shirt, I’m still pretty close to that two-second commute. Heck, my car doesn’t even have time to warm up.

I thought it would be interesting to put the theory aside for a bit and get into some real-life scenarios, namely mine. So, interspersed between my regular Marketing Minute tips, tools and tactics posts, I felt it would be fun to share what I’m doing here at Odell.

As Senior Account Manager, much of my job involves generating new business. I’ll be sharing how I do that and some of the tools I use. But, since I’m also a designer and writer, I have my hands in the creative direction of various projects, not the least of which is marketing and promoting the firm. Aside from direct new business generation tactics, I’ll be writing about how I’m working on positioning the firm, getting the public relations stuff out there and, in many ways, reinventing Odell, along with the help of the rest of the staff.

A bit of background is order, me thinks. Odell was started back in 1944. It’s been a staple agency in the area, focusing mostly on print work for industrial accounts. But, over the years we’ve also done our fair share of consumer work, mostly in package design for the housewares and food industries. [insert blatant plug >] The firm has won literally hundreds of awards on the local, regional and national levels.

All that said, the regional economy is changing. Actually, it’s been changing for several years away from industry and toward a service and technology base. Many of the industrial clients (several BIG ones) have either closed their doors or moved out of the area. For Odell to remain viable and relevant, that means we need to change, too, in order to keep up with the shifting business landscape. A reinvention, or better, a re-branding is needed. I’ll cover the steps we’re taking here on Marketing Minute.

So, down the road, you’ll get to see, or at least read about, me baring my naked soul before the world. Yeah, it’ll be fun. Hey, is it cold in here, or is it just me?

Until the next,
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt