Today we’d like to introduce you to Roger Hicks.
Hi Roger, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 1986, I began my advertising career in West Palm Beach, Florida as the assistant for each department (account services, creative, media, art, and bookkeeping) of a mid-size agency. It was a great way to learn the business which, at the time, consisted of print, TV, and radio. As I got more comfortable, I began to take on more creative responsibilities and within a year, I won two Addy Awards for copywriting and radio campaigns.
In 1991, I left advertising for a 15-year career at the March of Dimes where I would eventually be responsible for recruiting, organizing, and managing volunteers and staff to achieve an annual fund-raising goal of more than $2.2 million. It was an invaluable experience that taught me how to work with a variety of personalities, how to differentiate our mission from the competition, how to successfully promote events, and, most importantly, how to ask for money. It’s the same as asking for business today – if you don’t ask, you don’t get it.
In 2006, I returned to my roots as the Director of Client Services for Electrum Branding and discovered that the world of advertising was rapidly evolving. Traditional marketing was dwindling while inbound marketing such as blogging, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, and social media was beginning to take off. To effectively keep Electrum’s clients’ brands at the top of my mind, I completed my Masters’s Certificate in Integrated Online Marketing.
In 2019, a compilation of my blogs “Just Because You Can Cut Your Own Hair Doesn’t Mean You Should: Humorous Observations on Why Marketing Is Best Left to Professionals and Helpful Tips Should You Decide to Go It Alone” was published.
In 2020, I was promoted to President and assumed responsibility for the day-to-day operations in addition to managing client relationships, ensuring projects are on schedule, staying ahead of marketing trends, and contributing to the agency’s creative portfolio. In 2021, Electrum Branding’s founder Ellen Schlafer retired and sold the agency to Vice President and Creative Director Tom La Badia and myself.
Originally from Kentucky, I’ve lived in Florida for 38 years. I live in Fort Lauderdale with Don, my husband of 16 years, and our boxer Gidget. We love to travel and have visited 34 countries together and will be adding one more – Portugal – later this year.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Many small businesses operate without a large marketing budget…. make that a marketing budget of any size. Personnel, inventory, and facilities are a priority, and whatever is left over is the marketing budget. And, because they know what they respond to when it comes to advertising and they know their business better than anyone, some businesses feel marketing is something they can tackle themselves.
However, even if they possessed the brand strategy, copywriting, graphic design, and digital and social marketing skills to create, manage, and monitor an effective marketing campaign, it’s doubtful they have the time. They have a business to run!
As a result, great ideas slip through the cracks, opportunities are missed, messaging gets stale, results aren’t monitored and insights for improvement are overlooked. Over time, the desire to save a bit of money can result in lost sales, decreased brand loyalty, and a weakened brand image.
Fortunately, the creation and successful execution of a comprehensive branding and marketing strategy doesn’t require an in-house marketing department or a full-time marketing director. But it does take experience and focus. Outsourcing your marketing to a full-service branding/marketing agency like Electrum Branding is not only affordable it’s cost-effective as the results should more than pay for the investment.
In addition to the expertise, significant cost-savings, and brand consistency that come with outsourcing to a full-service agency, businesses also enjoy the convenience of a one-stop-shop vs. multiple vendors.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At Electrum Branding, we take pride in the fact that our clients consider us partners in their success and not just another vendor. Despite being across town, out of state, or across the country – we want all of our clients to think of us as their marketing department that’s right down the hall. We successfully accomplish that by being accessible, and responsive, and always making them feel as though they are our only client.
In 2024, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary with a fresh rebrand that takes a nostalgic look backward. Our new logo embodies the timeless charm of the 1950s with its use of two mid-century fonts and a vibrant two-color palette reminiscent of the era. If the logo is a nod to that era, the website is a romanticized homage to fictional Madison Avenue advertising agencies such as Sterling Cooper of “Mad Men” or McMann & Tate from “Bewitched.”
My business partner, vice president, and creative director Tom La Badia, and I both grew up in the 60s and 70s and share a profound appreciation of mid-century style. The clean lines, geometric forms, and retro style of that period evoke an emotion in both of us. We’re using nostalgia to tell the story, albeit ironically, of our forward-thinking agency.
Our goal is for visitors to have an emotional connection to our site and want to stay a bit longer and read one more blog or check out another design portfolio. A perfect example of our site’s irony is its imagery which is mid-century-inspired, yet it is all generated by AI.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://electrumbranding.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/electrumbranding/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElectrumBranding
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/electrumbranding/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElectrumBrand
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQxDdZXihrgsdTdnOdWv3jQ?
