Working and Living Downtown
There's a different vibe here. The hustle and bustle of the city streets. Cars driving by… people talking below. The city is alive, and we are a part if it. And with that life, breathes creativity! Mad Men felt that breath of invigoration when we were finally able to expand into our new space downtown and we've been soaking it up ever since. Our focus is sharper, our determination is stronger and our ability to entertain is now existent. So much so, we actually plan to host as a venue for Art Walk this September – so come on by, check out our new digs, say hi and stay a while. Should be a good night, and we are happy to finally be able to participate!
Stay tuned as we continue to share stories of our area – what we find, what we like and what we do with it. You might find out a thing, or two, yourself! Needless to say, we like it here and I don't expect us to be going anywhere else anytime soon!
Bay Street Renaissance
Tax breaks are currently in place that allow citizens of Jacksonville to reside in a more historic part of the city. These tax breaks take 50% off of your property taxes for 10 years. Enticing isn't it? So here's the really big question: where's the love for all the business owners that want to make downtown a vibrant place that rivals Town Center or the beaches in terms of large volumes of people spending their evenings (and disposable income) in the very spot where most cities flourish? Merely offering the same kind of tax break isn't enough simply because you're talking about a larger scale. This isn't a 200,000 dollar home, it's a 1.2 million dollar building, and in order for that property to generate revenue, it has to look like it's not an eyesore from the early 20th century. I, for one, love the allure of historical buildings downtown being converted to trendy after-work venues. It gives the city the flair of SoHo, but there needs to be more incentive for investors to spend the kind of money it takes to revitalize and upgrade the existing building.
If I may be so bold, Mad Men Marketing is doing its part to promote a new downtown Renaissance. A lot of hard work and lots of money has been spent updating electrical, plumbing, partitioning off what was once a bare art studio, and even taking down plaster to expose the natural (and beautiful) brickwork. The place is really looking quite stunning.
Underbelly, another success story on Bay Street, has done a FANTASTIC job of giving the interior of an older brick building a face lift. When you walk in, natural wood accents the original brickwork and the open space is very inviting. A lot of effort was put in painting the central columns and there's a stage where music is played nearly every night. A recent show that brought former TV personality and stand-up comedian Doug Stanhope, packed the place. Oh, and did I mention that Underbelly has over 30 beers on tap? Underbelly has done everything the right way and can serve as a model for those who come after them.
It has also come to my attention that Intuition Ale Works wants/wanted a place on Bay St. or the surrounding area, but that the city was unwilling to make some kind of reasonable accommodations. Do banks and cities really just want to sit on these vacant properties and allow them to deteriorate? Would they rather have nothing than get 3/4 of the asking price? Would they rather wait for a buyer rather than lease the place out to an ambitious entrepreneur? I say “Good for you Intuition for wanting a stake in the revitalization in downtown Jax”. I can only hope that the bureaucratic nightmare that exists in local government will aid you in your acquisition of a location that suits your needs. After all, what is economics but the study of INCENTIVES?
Football and Philanthropy
It's no secret that most big name receivers and running backs develop an ego. To quell that sort of behavior and provide an incentive to those players who choose to simply hand the ball to the official upon scoring a touchdown, Mularkey makes a charitable contribution to the Ronald McDonald House in the amount of $250. If last Friday's victory over the New Orleans Saints was any indication, Mularkey will have his checkbook open often.
I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the generosity of our kicker, Josh Scobee as well. Now, as in the past, with every successful field goal that Scobee kicks, he donates $250 to Wolfson Children's Hospital through his “Kicks for Kids” charity.
This kind of generosity cannot be overlooked. Not only do we have a competitive team for the first time in recent memory, but there is a sense of pride and professionalism that is absent all too often these days. I'm thoroughly impressed with the team's poise and the emphasis the coaching staff has placed on doing things the right way on and off the field.
Let’s Get Political
Forget abortions, forget gay marriage, and the legalization of marijuana. The nation's economy and its lack of perceived upswing will be at the heart of the political discussion this election year, as it should be. What Mr. Romney will have you believe is that he has a solution. I promise you that he does not. He's not an economist by trade, he just happened to be at the right place at the right time with Bain Capital. Even an economist doesn't have all the answers. They utilize incentives and observe trends and then quantify those patterns and illustrate the results graphically.
It's no secret that every party tries to seize the upper hand and claim that they have the solution to the other party's short-comings. The focus has been on the national debt, which is entirely too high. Let me point out that in the mid 90's the debt was well under control and then a certain cowboy, who shall remain nameless, galloped into the nation's capital with grand ideas, but only succeeded in getting us into not one, but two decade long wars that were an incredible drain on the economy.
So here's the political conundrum: There are over 500 congressmen on the national level; what are the odds that they would arrive at some kind of universally beneficial consensus instead of favoring the constituency that keeps them in political office and paying them a 6 figure salary? The President, regardless of who it may be, is going to be nothing more than a figure head, a powerless monarch until Congress does some housekeeping and decides they would like to make progress instead of collecting a paycheck under the guise of having the best interest of the people at heart. Let's not forget, Congress has A LOT of authority, and passing bills and new legislation into law is their responsibility.
As for the question of whether or not inflation and printing more money is killing the country's economy, the answer is not YET. Right now, the world bank accepts payment in the form of US dollars. This gives us some international pull because we can run up all of our debts, pay our creditors, issue bonds, and it's all kind of like xeroxing Monopoly money. If it never existed in the first place, how can you pay for something? However, this is the system that's used day in and day out, and for now it works. If they ever demanded payment in something other than dollars, we would be in a world of hurt, but for now, we can breathe easy.
I could go on and on about these issues and more (and probably will at a later time), but I'll stop for now in anticipation of all the feedback I'm bound to get. As always, thanks for reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
I will, however, provide some insight into the more common answers to questions we face, and in doing this, it is my hope that I pique your interest to inquire further. So, naturally, one would start with “What is an advertising agency?” Well, the answer is an ad agency can be many things… much like the question “what is a restaurant?” You know they all serve food, but what kind? Do they have a specialty or can you order anything you want? Mad Men Marketing is a full service agency, which means we can provide you with anything you might need. Basically, we can become your own personal marketing team. Only we won't ask you for a salary and benefits, including dental. Instead, we can make your media buys for you, help you with creative ideas and mock-ups, and consolidate your billing to make sure your advertising is running as smoothly as possible – and we do this at no extra cost to you!
SO, naturally, your next question is “Well then, how do you make money?” Valid question. I'm glad you asked… We make our money much like any other accounts services department, like any other company would. If you are placing your TV ads personally, there is a percentage of that spending that goes to the account executive, and the rest to the station itself… When you hire us, we enter as just another slice of the vendor's pie. They pay us 15% of whatever you are spending. We basically charge them to work with us instead of you.
Now, this brings us to the question of additional agency fees… Some agencies will charge you an additional percentage of your ad budget to spend it for you. We at Mad Men do not believe in this. We do have some additional services beyond those an “Agency of Record” would perform that cost us money such as SEO, website development, mobile sites and so on. These services take time and need to be developed, but that is the same across the board.
A common misconception is that working with an agency will cost you MORE money. This actually couldn't be further from the truth. In most cases, we ensure your budget would not need to change in the slightest; and, we can almost guarantee that in working with us – being experts in the field – not only can we save you time, we can also actually save you money – all the while generating better results while spending what you already have (or even less), more efficiently than ever before. Furthermore, because we now have perceived control over your entire ad budget, media outlets tend to be even more accommodating and in turn, provide additional incentives to work with their company.
Another fear companies have is, once they sign with an agency, they worry they will lose control of their advertising. Our services range on the spectrum of control. We will follow your comfort levels and direction to be as much or as little involved as you would like us to be. Of course, every decision is sent for your approval before we move forward, and all creative ideas are run by your team first. We are simply here to make your job easier, and take some time off your hands so you can focus on running your business, while we keep the customers walking through the door, or picking up the phone.
How about this concern: Will we be working with your competitors? That answer is simply, NO! Mad Men Marketing operates as category exclusive. We made a partnership with you, and we have become your advocates… sharing sensitive information and working hard to make sure your business excels in its field. While you are our client, we will not work with anyone else in your category, as we hope you would do us the honor of letting us be your sole full service agency.
So, now you might be asking yourself, “Do I need an agency?” or “Would working with an agency be right for me?” Well, that is a question you must answer yourself. But in my experience, the answer is almost always, YES! Every business is different, with individual needs, owners and infrastructures. But, if you want to make more money, grow your business, spread your ad dollars, consolidate bills, or expand… an agency is just the partnership to help you reach those goals.
With our collective expertise, we can assure that you get the most bang for your buck. We have done the research, we conduct additional research on your behalf, we have credible and already established relationships with media outlets and we know what we are talking about when it comes to consumer driven advertising. Give us a shot and let us be your pinch hitter… It doesn't mean you're completely out of the game – it just means you're calling in some help to give you that extra edge above your competition.
That's what an agency can do for you.