Mizzou Alums Endorse RJI Research on Future of Digital Ad Formats
By Alecia Swasy
Bill and Mary Price, owners of Empower MediaMarketing.
When Stephanie Padgett approached her bosses, Bill and Mary Beth Price, about taking a year off to take a Donald W. Reynolds Fellowship, their answer was swift: "Go for it," said the Prices, owners of Empower MediaMarketing, one of the nation's top independent media agencies.
"We are so enthusiastic about her doing this. It is the future," Bill says of RJI's research projects. "Not only for our company, but many others will learn from it."
The Prices didn't need to be sold on anything related to the Missouri School of Journalism: Both are graduates, who met while working for Chicago ad agency, Leo Burnett. Bill's father, James W. Price graduated from Mizzou in the 1920s and had a successful career running a weekly newspaper in Princeton, MO. "I was raised in the business," Bill says.
"We never failed to make money," says Bill Price; digital and internet ads spark new revenue streams.
By 1985, the Prices left other jobs to launch their own firm with one client, Lenscrafters, the chain of eyeglass stores. Today, Empower employs 160 people and expects 2009 billings of $300 million. "We never failed to make money and we’ve got an incredible group of excellent managers," Bill says. Another reason: embracing the addition of digital and Internet advertising to the traditional formats.
For instance, Empower came up with a clever collaboration for client Long John Silver's during Discovery Channel's popular "Shark Week." The deal allowed the seafood restaurant to sponsor the "Sharkrunners" online game. Viewers could tag, track and observe sharks. In addition, Empower created and co-branded a sweepstakes, "Discover Baja," where viewers could register to win a trip for four to Baja California, Mexico.
For another client, Bush's Baked Beans, Empower came up with a healthy-eating online promotion. Bush's customers love to surf the Internet for recipes, so the veggie-related Web site, www.vegetablewithmore.com, won them over with hundreds of recipes that use the beans. The results: 70,000 recipe views.
"This year, about 30% of total agency revenues will come from online," says Bill Price.
"Almost all of our clients are active with Internet/digital strategies," says Bill. "Our son, Jim, who is the company's vice-president of innovation, started about three years ago pushing and pulling our clients into online marketing. This year, about 30% of total agency revenues will come from online."
Empower's other clients include U.S. Bank, Meijers supermarket and Sylvan Learning Centers.
When their daughter, Mary Jesse Price, decided to attend Mizzou, Bill and Mary Beth started talking to professors about how they could help build the Strategic Communications program. Indeed, they developed an "executive on loan" program, allowing Padgett to split her time between an adjunct professorship at Mizzou and her role at EmpowerED, the division that focuses on schools and non-profit groups. "Stephanie is well suited for this," says Mary Beth. "She is very entrepreneurial, very flexible and light on her feet."
Besides, it's a great way to spot the next generation of advertising leaders. Empower hired several Mizzou students for internships and full-time jobs. "We figure we can help fund Stephanie and its better than paying a headhunter," Bill says.