Creative Economy : Innovation + Job News

Minneapolis branding agency OLSON announced this week that it's acquired Denali Marketing, the fast-growing loyalty marketing firm we wrote about last week.

Denali Marketing helps companies manage customer loyalty programs, including Best Buy's Reward Zone and Sun Country's Ufly Rewards.

OLSON has been interested in developing or acquiring loyalty expertise for a few years, and about six months ago started a nationwide search for a partner.

"Sometimes you don't know what's in your own backyard until you scour the country," said OLSON President Kevin DiLorenzo, who has been named the new agency's CEO.

The combination of OLSON and Denali creates a 300-person agency, the largest full-service ad agency in Minnesota with clients that include some of the state's biggest brands (Target, Best Buy, Sun Country, General Mills, Land O'Lakes).

And instead of reducing employees, as is common following many mergers and acquisitions, DiLorenzo said they plan to add about 50 new hires as they combine.

DiLorenzo said Denali's culture and client roster are both complimentary to OLSON's business. There's also connections and familiarity among management teams, he said.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"Joining forces with Denali is a very good fit for us, and the fact that they happened to be here in our own backyard makes integration issues much more seamless and easy to manage for us," DiLorenzo said.

Source: Kevin DiLorenzo, OLSON
Writer: Dan Haugen

An ad agency whose clients range from Sesame Street to Steve Jobs is growing to keep up with new business.

Minneapolis-based mono announced last week that it's made two new hires, a designer and a project leader, to keep up with recent client growth. They follow three previous hires announced in April and bring its employee count up to 43.

When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad at Apple's annual winter gala earlier this year, the giant graphic on stage behind him was designed by mono.

The six-year-old branding and advertising firm is also responsible for producing back-to-school and other seasonal in-store displays for Apple Stores.

Other clients include Macy's, Rolaids, Herman Miller, General Mills, Sesame Street, and Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day.

The most recent hires by mono were in preparation for another large client that's expected to be announced soon.

James Scott, a co-founder and managing partner, said the company is as busy as it's ever been. It grew last year despite the recession, and it expects to grow more this year.

"I think it was because we were able to retain and maintain a really, really smart and talented bunch of people," Scott said.

While others were downsizing, mono manged to avoid layoffs, and that's helped it win new clients, such as Macy's and Rolaids, which it might have missed had the company scaled back, he said.

"We were able to capitalize in a very tough year on opportunities that came our way, and we grew."

Source: James Scott, managing partner, mono
Writer: Dan Haugen

Boston's Fenway Park is already known for the Green Monster, its towering, forest-colored outfield wall.

Now, a growing Minneapolis agency has been hired to make fans associate the ballpark with environmental "green."

GreenMark is the world's first environmental sports sponsorship agency. President Mark Andrew plays matchmaker between sports teams and facilities and companies that have environmental causes or products to promote.

"We create opportunities for companies to showcase their green products and services from a sports platform," Andrew said. "It's very experiential. We don't do signs on walls."

The concept first came to life at Target Field when Pentair signed on as "The Official Sustainable Water Provider" for the Minnesota Twins. The sponsorship centers around the high-tech rainwater recycling system Pentair installed under the field.

GreenMark's clients include the Twins and Wild, as well as Target Center and TCF Stadium. It also represents the San Francisco 49ers.

"The reason we want to be in sports is that sports buildings are enormous platforms to tell sustainability stories," said Andrew, a former Hennepin County commissioner and state DFL chairman who started the company in 2006.

The Boston Red Sox last week announced the hiring of GreenMark as the team's green sponsorship agency for Fenway Park. Andrew and his team are now scouting for green technologies that might be incorporated into the century-old ballpark. The brainstorming includes the obvious question of how to best incorporate the iconic Green Monster in left field.

The company has about half a dozen full-time employees. Andrew expects it to grow to about a dozen by the end of 2011.

Source: Mark Andrew, President & Founder, GreenMark
Writer: Dan Haugen