NEWS
March 2012: Agency New Business Continues Throughout Q1
We are excited about the continuation of new business wins over here by working with some great brands and clients. Recent wins this first quarter include The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum located in New York City, PARX Casino located outside of Philadelphia, ResMed - the leading sleep apnea device manufacturer, plus additional assignments from KISS Nails and About.com. On a related note: WE ARE HIRING!!!
January 2012: Celebrating 10th Year Of Business By Breaking Three New Clients
This Spring will be our 10th year. What better way to celebrate than earn the trust of three more new clients at the Agency: FreshPet, PetPlan and TrueCitrus. Perhaps we need to open up another agency with all our pet-related business…. “Ruff Ruff and Meow Advertising”?
FreshPet is the only brand of fresh, refrigerated pet food nationwide. Our client identified an opportunity to improve the pet food market and introduced fresh food as a healthy alternative to dry or canned food. We’re pleased to be managing their advertising campaign which includes a national television component to drive retail activity.
PetPlan, a leading pet health care and insurance company located in Philadelphia, has selected the Agency to develop and activate a national direct-to-consumer campaign.
TrueCitrus, a 100% natural alternative to Crystal Light and other powered drink mixes, is a fast growing challenger brand available at Walmart, Whole Foods and other national chains. We are excited to be part of the Agency team developing their first national advertising campaign debuting in 2012.
December 2011: Gotham Direct posts 23% Year of Year Growth
We want to thank all our partners, especially our staff and clients, for making 2011 another growth year here at the Agency.
November 2011 - Winner Winner! The "Creative Media Awards"
MediaPost's Creative Media Awards named us the winner within the "Performance Media and Marketing" category for our Chiquita's Back to School Smart Sweeps. We were in great company with other finalists including Carat, Starcom, MediaCom, OMD, Havas, Digitas, Mindshare, Mullen and others. Thanks to our team for their efforts and to our client, Chiquita!
November 2011: MOROCCANOIL selects Agency
So the distinctive blue-ish/green-ish bottles (we're not creative, we're media) have been wandering out of our storage closet here at the Agency. Our new client, the orginator and leading manufacturer of professional Argan Oil hair prodcuts, has fantastic products and we're thrilled to be developing their 2012 media campaign.
October 2011: Jillian Michaels hires Agency..snickers at our physique
We're thrilled to have been selected by Jillian for her media chores inlcuding national print and digital tactics. Killer buns and thighs will be our new calling card here at the Agency, which is a lot better than our current calling card, "Beer Pong Champions."
September 2011: Fall is upon us here at the Agency
The Agency interns are returned to school (underpaid and mistreated), the Agency staff squander countless hours on Yahoo Fantasy Football trades and our first ever Agency basketball team (The Gotham Goons) begin their march to glory.
August 2011: What do you mean no more staff in the hallways?
We've been growing and hiring, which is great but we had no where to put everyone. Finally our second floor is ready in the building for Gothamites... and the 14th floor will now resemble an office and not a youth hostel.
June 2011: Have I Got A Story For You...
So after nearly ten years we convinced Greg and Chris to finally hire a PR firm. Look out for snazzy headshots, Agency talking heads at conferences and scholarly papers about couponing trends...
May 2011: Big Hire At Agency
Adam Krumwiede, our new Executive Vice President, Group Media Director, joined our agency this month. Prior to Gotham Direct he served as Senior Partner, Group Director, at MediaCom/Mediaedge:cia, where he planned and managed media investments for client GlaxoSmithKline and its many brands. Adam will ensure the quality and integrity of all media plans, strategies and services delivered to our clients and will play an integral role in growing the agency both here in the US and abroad in our London office.
April 2011: Cheers, Daft, Pear Shaped and Bespoke
Gotham Direct is going abroad...planting our flag in London. Our staff will have to employ Rosetta Stone to learn the new language as during our last trip we kept hearing them say to us, "Get Stuffed" and "You're off the trolley." More details to follow...Cheerio.
March 2011: Tasty and Effective
Our client, MyMms.com, ranked #3 as the most effective television ad running in Q1 2011. The "Ace Score" measures TV creative effectiveness based on persuasion and "watchability" measures. Also in the study it was revealed that just 12% of ads in 2010 that used celebrities achieved more than a 10% performance lift over industry averages for their product categories. Use of celebrities continues to be hit or miss...mostly miss notes the study (source: Ace Metrix Q1 2011). Also noted in the study: Personalized M&Ms are really tasty.
January 2011: Heading into our 9th year (56th year if the Agency were a dog)
The Agency wrapped up 2010 with its 8th consecutive year of double digit growth. Thanks again to our clients, to our freakishly smart and dedicated staff and to our partner-vendors for making Gotham Direct one of America's fastest growing private companies.
November 2010: 3 New Clients, Having Fun With Bananas and More Office Space
Gotham Direct recently was awarded the advertising assignments for Gettington.com, Petflow.com and a unit of Dow Chemical. Additionally we just concluded a very successful Facebook campaign for our client, Chiquita, where their Facebook community increased by 733% through our "You Vote. We Donate" activation. Lastly, our agency just took more space in our building. The floor plan calls for, among other things, a ping pong table. This will foster community and togetherness at the agency, plus allow for the occassional beer pong game, but just don't tell the partners...now we need a beer client - to be continued...
October 2010: 1800 Tequila vs. Patron
Our client, 1800 Tequila, is taking it to Patron in the battle of the annual 11 million case tequila market. Click here to learn more and view the tv commercials with a former Sopranos cast member ttp://tiny.cc/nh341
But Wait, There's More: October 2010: Agency clients win industry awards
Gore-Tex wins Gold in MIN's 2010 Integrated Marketing Awards Ceremony for Best Retail Tie-In. Gotham Direct, in conjunction with Field & Stream, developed the "Gore-Tex Gear Corner," which was an app that was downloaded 135,000 times. At the 2010 IAB MIXX Awards (for most successful digital marketing) Mars Direct won a Silver Medal in the "Direct Response" category for the "My M&Ms Valentine's Day 2010" digital campaign.
September 2010: Gotham Direct is growing....like America's waistline.
The summer has been hot and busy for us and as a result we're taking more space in our "always under construction with two small elevators" building. The 14th floor was just not enough to hold this agency so we're expanding to another. Swing by and visit us sometime...we have treats.
August 2010: Earn Up To 40,000 Miles... We Just Did With Our New Client.
Our agency was just hired by JPMorgan Chase to acquire new customers for their branded Continental OnePass Plus credit card. More details to follow, but all those with strong credit scores, please click, apply and activate your card...please!
July 2010: Zappos.com CEO hires Gotham Direct to Deliver Happiness
Tony Hsieh and Gotham Direct go back to 2003 when we were hired to be the media agency for his little baby, Zappos.com. Besides building Zappos.com into a $1billion dollar company (and being acquired by Amazon.com) he has found time to publish his first book, Delivering Happiness.
Check out page 5 where he talks about paying $33.45 for a box of mud that was guaranteed to contain at least 100 earthworms. Since the June 7 book launch in which we provided the advertising strategy, Delivering Happiness has become the #1 book on Amazon.com and both the NY Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
June 2010: Gotham Direct is going bananas!
We're pleased to announce that we've been selected by Chiquita to develop advertising strategies and activate the the resultant campaigns. We can't wait to meet Miss Chiquita, the First Lady of Fruit!
May 2010: New York University selects Gotham Direct
We're pleased to announce that our agency has been selected for student recruitment initiatives within the various graduate programs at NYU. Founded in 1831 and located in the heart of Greenwich Village, NYU has over 14,000 graduate students and is one of the largest private universities in the United States.
April 2010: M&M's/Mars Direct expands engagement with Gotham Direct
Gotham Direct, initially selected to lead their DRTV advertising campaign, has been assigned full-media planning, buying and analytics responsibilities for all media channels, including search, affiliate, digital display and print. See the FACES campaign site here www.mymms.com and don't forget gift giving season is upon us (Graduations, Weddings, etc).
JANUARY 2010: Year of the Tiger and Big Ass Fans
The Chinese Lunar Calendar says in 2010 we should be risk-taking, adventurous, but suspicious and sensitive. Additionally the Agency should get on well with Horses and Dogs; however we should avoid Monkeys at all costs.
It made no mention of Big Ass Fans, our newest client at the Agency. The premier designer and manufacturer of high volume/low speed fans (and ya, and their Big Ass in size) has hired us to develop their direct to consumer advertising strategies and analytical processes. Check out their highly engineered and unique fans at www.BigAssFans.com
DECEMBER 2009: Gotham Direct posts 17% Year of Year growth in 2009
We want to thank all our partners, especially our staff and clients, for making 2009 another growth year here at the Agency. Gotham Direct looks to 2010 for continued growth as we provide value to our partners through creative solutions to media planning and above all, "Accountability" through analytics.
NOVEMBER 2009: Double Rock selects Gotham Direct
Capping off a fantastic November was word that Double Rock has selected Gotham Direct for the launch of their new business line, Landing Rock. The business, please visit www.LandingRock.com, offers consumers and businesses owners $2.5 million of FDIC protection through their patented technology platform which has placed billions of dollars into FDIC-insured institutions over the past decade.
NOVEMBER 2009: Our client, M&M's/Mars Direct, wins "Make The Difference" Award
We're thrilled to learn that our client was one of only 14 teams selected amongst 6,800 entrants for the Mars Global "Make The Difference" Award. The team was noted for how the cross-functional teams, including their agency partners, came together to take an industry-leading innovation and make it a winning consumer proposition. See the FACES campaign site here: www.mymms.com
NOVEMBER 2009: See our YouTube video,"Does TV Drive Online Activity?"
NOVEMBER 2009: NIKE and Gotham Direct sitting in a tree...
We're thrilled to lending a hand to NIKE and their local New York City media needs, including the upcoming 2009 NYC Marathon. Wrapping buses and shuttling marathoners to NIKETOWN NY on W57th Street sounds much more like our speed then running 26 miles through the city...pass the chips and salsa.
OCTOBER 2009: Gazelle.com selects us
Get CASH for your gadgets at Gazelle.com. They are the easiest and fastest way for you to sell or recycle your gadgets. Located in Boston and online at www.Gazelle.com, Gazelle has selected us as their agency partner for an upcoming (and still hush, hush) program in which we'll build brand awareness and drive ROI. Stay tuned for more later...
SEPTMBER 2009: Hello Alert One
AlertOne, among the most recognized firms in the medical alarm industry, has selected Gotham Direct for their upcoming DRTV campaign. We're excited to partner with this trusted company as they integrate another successful acquisition channel into their business. For more info, visit www.alert-1.com
SEPTMBER 2009: Goodbye Intern
Our 80lb. intern, Ari, has left to continue his marketing studies, we wish him well and hope he returns again. We're hopeful he appreciated why we made him do all those things in the office during his hazing... um, I mean.. internship. Ari always seemed to enjoy dressing up like a baby puma and chasing messengers around the office. Oh how we miss you, Ari.
AUGUST 2009: Operation Backpack
Gotham Direct is proud to be donating our agency's services in support of the upcoming, "Operation Backpack", which seeks to distribute 10,000 backpacks to children living in homeless shelters in New York City. Partnering with Paige Davis ("Trading Spaces" co-host) and other corporate sponsors we ask those interested in helping to visit www.OperationBackpackNYC.org
JULY 2009: Kiss Nails goes global! French Kiss?
Our client, KISS NAILS (see October '08 post), is expanding our successful "Brand Response" television campaign to Ireland, England, Scotland and Whales...I mean, Wales.
JUNE 2009: Third Largest Bank in Israel Selects Gotham Direct
Israel Discount Bank, with 18 financial centers around the world, has selected us for their media strategy, buying and analytics assignment. With IDB Bank and El Al Airlines, a client since 2006, perhaps it's time for an office in Tel Aviv??
APRIL2009: Woolrich makes us feel warm
Woolrich, the original outdoor clothing company, selected Gotham Direct as their media agency. For more than 178 years Woolrich has offered products inspired by the outdoors and Gotham Direct is thrilled to be part of the team.
MARCH 2009: Gotham Direct hits the gym
Voted "Best Gym in America" by Fitness Magazine, EQUINOX has selected Gotham Direct as their media and analytics agency. With locations across the United States and online at www.equinoxfitness.com, our team couldn't be happier...everyone at the office is looking forward to seeing each other in shorts and t-shirts working out.
FEBRUARY 2009: Is that your face on my M&M?
Gotham Direct, in partnership with Greater Than One, has been assigned the direct to consumer campaign from M&M's called "My M&M's." What's better than personalized M&M's with your favorite words, face, logo or colors! Anyone want Gotham Direct orange and white M&M's?
OCTOBER 2008: Our first KISS
The world's largest manufacturer and distributor of professional quality nail products, KISS NAILS, just hired us for their 2009 advertising campaign Located online at KissUSA.com this company has a number of exciting new products ready to debut. Stay tuned, ladies (and men who like to polish their nails).
SEPTEMBER 2008: Diapers.com assists in containing America's gas problems.
Why drive your Honda minivan (which I have, but it's cool...really) to the store when you can go online for your baby product needs? Diapers.com, the largest online pecialist offering baby care necessities in the US, is just a click away and our new client. This account is being handled by the same account team that handles our American Standard assignment, making them our specialists in the fast growing/exploding "human waste category."
AUGUST 2008: America's Fastest Growing Private Companies - 2 Years in a row!
We were named in the September issue of Inc. Magazine as among the fastest growing private companies in America. Last year we made the list (#26) and want to thank our amazing team and client-partners.
JULY 2008: PEER 1 selects Gotham Direct
PEER 1, a global leader in the IT infrastructure business, selected Gotham Direct to scale their customer acquisition strategies. Managed hosting, self-managed hosting, co-location and network services are critical areas in which they bring cutting-edge solutions to small and mid-size businesses. We're thrilled by this new partnership led by their amazing IT platforms, rock solid and fully redundant 15 state-of-the-art data centers and 17 points-of-presence (POPs) across North America.
JUNE 2008: iContact.com in our "WIN-box"
iContact allows companies to easily manage their email marketing campaigns with industry-leading deliverability rates meaning over 98% of their client's marketing communications make it to the intended in-box. The technology is impressive, but don't take our word for it, check out their recent "Web 2.0 Award" for Best Marketing Application. Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. While that is the unofficial slogan for the U.S. Postal Service it might as well be the slogan for our new client.
APRIL 2008: Time to Hit the Books
Gotham Direct is proud to announce we've been selected to handle the online duties for Huntington Learning Center. Pioneers in the industry, Dr. and Mrs. Huntington did more than open their first tutoring center in 1977, they started an entire industry. Call or visit the local center in your town (and mention you saw them on-line in a well placed and strategic location).
MARCH 2008: Houdini's Birthday, Uranus is Discovered and...
Proximo Spirits selects Gotham Direct as their advertising agency. March is chalk full of exciting history, but nothing makes us as excited as a Cherry Bomb (one part Three Olives Vodka and one part Red Bull). Proximo Spirits is also the home to 1800 Tequila, Gran Centenario, Matusalem Rum and good times! FYI - Houdini's birthday is on March 24th and Uranus was discovered on March 13, 1781.
FEBRUARY 2008: Our Business is in the Toilet
We are pleased to announce that we were selected by American Standard, a leading manufacturer of bath and kitchen products and toilets, thus the catchy headline for February, for strategic media and promotional planning services. We're also pleased we selected American Standard products when we did our new office build-out last year (or that would have been awkward).
DECEMBER 2007: Up 55% and entering our 7th Year
Due to our talented staff, wonderful clients and valuable vendor partners the agency concluded another strong year growing 55% over 2006. Our belief that we measure our success by that of our clients continues to lead our daily efforts. Thank you everyone for making 2007 another strong year and allowing us to be named the 26th Fastest Growing Company in America. Pass the egg nog...
NOVEMBER 2007: It's a New Business Parade
This has been a great November as new relationships have been developed with great new clients here at the agency, including American Standard (kitchen and bathroom fixtures), ProFoot (#2 player in foot care category), David Bach/Finicity (bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire and numerous other financial planning titles) and HEEL (global homeopathic medications manufacturer). This wave of new business may explain our agency's pitiful performance at this month's "Ad Agency Kickball Tournament." We did however win April's Dodgeball Tournament (see April News update).
HALLOWEEN 2007: It's a Parade
Our client Zappos.com, our agency and our creative partner, The Ad Store marched in the spooky New York City Halloween parade. Our "float" consisted of 55 professional dancers and a few completely unprofessional candy distributors. The parade was attended by 2 million "ghosts and goblins" and viewed by millions more on television. Click here to view a one-minute video of the parade.
SEPTEMBER 2007: Life...Supplemented
We developed an online campaign for this client, a consortium of companies including Bayer Healthcare, NBTY, Cargill, Archer Daniels & Midland and Covance Labs, which encouraged consumers to create a personal wellness regimen, My Wellness Scorecard. Smart lifestyle choices lead to healthy and more productive lives and smart agency partners lead to successful and profitable campaigns. Click here to view some of the online creative.
AUGUST 2007: America's 26th Fastest Growing Company
Each year Inc. magazine publishes their "Inc. 500" list of America's 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies. We just learned our spot - #26. Thanks, Inc. magazine, and a very special thanks to our staff, clients and vendors who together made all this possible. CLICK HERE to read our press release.
MAY 2007: Pleased to meet you, Lane Bryant
Gotham Direct is proud to announce we were named an Agency of Record for Lane Bryant, the most recognized name in specialty plus-size clothing. We will be developing the marketing and advertising strategies surrounding the launch of Lane Bryant Woman, the retailers companion catalog and e-commerce business. Charming Shoppes, Inc., the parent of Lane Bryant, expect plus-size results from us.
APRIL 2007: Nimble Gotham Direct Takes Out Slow Moving Agencies
Our agency was one of two dozen advertising agencies who participated in the "Men's Fitness Ad Agency Dodgeball Tournament." All the usual suspects showed up - each agency part of some vast agency holding conglomerate. Independent Gotham Direct, nimble on their feet (and to client requests), worked our magic and dispatched all agency offerings! CLICK HERE to see our victory photo - please note the stylish wristbands and socks.
MARCH 2007: Wet Month, Dry Agency
Gotham Direct stays dry with Gore-Tex. The W.L. Gore and Associates family of consumer products, including Gore-Tex and Windstopper, named us as their Media Agency of Record this month. Fortune magazine named them among the "100 Best Companies to Work For (2007)" - we agree.
DECEMBER 2006: Gotham Group Ends 2006 up 86%
Thanks to all our clients, staff and vendor-partners for another great year. The Agency has grown by nearly 90% over last year and was named this summer as the #30th fastest growing company in the country by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
DECEMBER 2006: Moving on up!
We're excited to be moving to our new offices in New York City. Due to recent account wins and current client growth we are leaving the Garment District for bigger digs over by Grand Central Terminal. Located at 40th and Lexington the new offices will be ready February 1 and our staff couldn't be happier (since they are currently packed in like sardines).
NOVEMBER 2006: Gotham Direct Interactive Debuts
The Gotham Direct Group has launched an integrated Interactive group called, GDi. Gotham Direct Interactive (GDi) will be run by Shattuck Groome, former marketing head at eDiets.com, a NASDAQ-listed company. The group is currently managing a number of our current account's interactive needs including Atkins and FX Solutions.
OCTOBER 2006: Gotham Direct launches new website.
It's finally here, the updated website, Gotham Direct 2.0. We promise to update this section as news breaks at the Agency. Look for news about account wins, hiring of new staff, and our soon to be announced new office. In the meantime, see below for a great news-worthy event which occurred in June.
JUNE 2006: Gotham Direct makes the 12th Annual Hot 100 List.
Entrepreneur and PriceWaterhouseCoopers named Gotham Direct among America's fastest-growing businesses. We're proud to be ranked #30 and want to thank all our clients, staff and vendors for allowing us to make this list. Look for us on page 76 in the June 2006 issue of Entrepreneur!