Advertising and Marketing

Advertising & Marketing

With the population splitting into ever-smaller consumer groups, these firms use new technology to target the niches - from Hispanics to churches to car-racing fans.

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Red F

Charlotte, N.C.

• No.: 21
• Annual Growth: 863.9%
• Total Growth: 3,456%
• 2003 Revenue: $7.9 million
• Employees: 34

Ricardo L. Elias and his partner used the code name Red F when they secretly founded this marketing firm while employed at other companies. Part strategic consultancy, part direct marketer, Red F handles the entire life cycle of a marketing campaign. Puerto Rican native Elias leverages his knowledge of the burgeoning Hispanic market-place to land major clients like BellSouth and DirecTV.

180solutions

Bellevue, Wash.

• No.: 39
• Annual Growth: 611%
• Total Growth: 2,444 %
• 2003 Revenue: $19.4 million
• Employees: 85

Companies and consumers connect online with the help of 180solutions. Its downloadable search engine assistant, known as Zango, lets consumers cut down on the number of links that come up when they are searching, while advertisers increase their chances of actually reaching someone likely to spend money.

Unipro Group

Miami

• No.: 56
• Annual Growth: 454.4%
• Total Growth: 1,818%
• 2003 Revenue: $4.3 million
• Employees: 25

Unipro, founded by Nelson J. Albareda and Peter Regalado, helps clients like Ford Motor Co. reach the Hispanic population. The company's deep knowledge of Latino consumers helped it land one of the Hispanic community's most coveted marketing gigs: promoting the Latin Grammy Awards.

ServiceMagic

Golden, Colo.

• No.: 60
• Annual Growth: 422%
• Total Growth: 1,688%
• 2003 Revenue: $19.5 million
• Employees: 202

Rodney Rice and his partner Mike Boden helped found the Einstein Bros. bagel chain. In the late 1990s, they switched gears and launched ServiceMagic, a website that rates local services such as carpenters, handymen, and painters in cities nationwide. More than 46,000 businesses pay a $99 fee to be listed.

iDirect Marketing

Irvine, Calif.

• No.: 90
• Annual Growth: 317.6%
• Total Growth: 1,270%
• 2003 Revenue: $5.5 million
• Employees: 7

Dennis J. Hastings Jr. got discouraged with ad agencies while working at Bally's Health and Tennis. "We were spending a lot," he says, "but weren't sure what was working." So he founded his own direct marketing agency, which charges clients based on how many leads the advertising actually generates.

Gratis Internet

Washington, D.C.

• No.: 95
• Annual Growth: 293.1%
• Total Growth: 1,173%
• 2003 Revenue: $4.9 million
• Employees: 8

Robert S. Jewell Jr. and Peter A. Martin make money by giving things away. They started by offering free condoms online, eventually adding websites offering free CDs and DVDs. Revenue comes from advertisers eager to reach the more than eight million consumers who use the sites.

ComScore Networks

Reston, Va.

• No.: 97
• Annual Growth: 290.3%
• Total Growth: 1,161%
• 2003 Revenue: $24.6 million
• Employees: 173

When corporate giants like AOL and Best Buy want insight into the behavior of their online customers, they head to ComScore. CEO Magid Abraham has raised $86 million from venture capital firms like Accel Partners and Lehman Brothers - and is considering an IPO next year.

Starmark International

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

• No.: 109
• Annual Growth: 268%
• Total Growth: 1,340%
• 2003 Revenue: $11.9 million
• Employees: 60

Starmark was a staple on the Inc. 500 in the 1980s. Now, after a four-year flirtation with retirement, CEO Dan L. Estes is back with a new incarnation of his advertising and PR firm. What did he do on his time off? "I drank as many margaritas and took in as many sunsets as I could."

Mansell Group

Atlanta

• No.: 201
• Annual Growth: 175%
• Total Growth: 700%
• 2003 Revenue: $2 million
• Employees: 10

CEO Allen M. Nance is fighting to give e-mail a good name, developing online sales and marketing campaigns for clients such as Thomson West and AirTran. He runs his company like an open book, sharing vital stats with employees.

Zyman Group

Atlanta

• No.: 223
• Annual Growth: 163.5%
• Total Growth: 654%
• 2003 Revenue: $38.4 million
• Employees: 89

Sergio Zyman was once chief marketing officer at Coca-Cola (he was the man behind New Coke). Now he runs his own shop, creating campaigns for companies such as Swiss Army and Procter & Gamble. Zyman has become something of a brand himself: In 2004, he pledged some $1 million annually to fund Emory University's Zyman Institute for Brand Science.

iProspect

Watertown, Mass.

• No.: 231
• Annual Growth: 160.5%
• Total Growth: 803%
• 2003 Revenue: $8.8 million
• Employees: 55

One night in 1996, Frederick Marckini stayed up until dawn tweaking a webpage, testing exactly what made it come up on search engines. That fascination led to a search-engine marketing firm, iProspect. Marckini sees the company as an ongoing research project, and uses past client traffic results as a database to predict results for current clients.

New Media Strategies

Arlington, Va.

• No.: 260
• Annual Growth: 139.6%
• Total Growth: 559%
• 2003 Revenue: $2.8 million
• Employees: 32

CEO Pete Snyder once worked as a pollster for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Now, he regularly polls the employees of his online branding firm to fine-tune strategy. That helped the company score one of its biggest coups: tapping into teen communities to create buzz for American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson's debut album - which went on to top the charts for weeks.

Postfuture

Richardson, Texas

• No.: 278
• Annual Growth: 129.9%
• Total Growth: 520%
• 2003 Revenue: $2.3 million
• Employees: 18

"E-mail is the lifeblood of our industry, and spam is cholesterol," says Richard Merrick. His company's software helps clients such as Best Buy, Microsoft, and Pizza Hut rev up their marketing by automating and customizing receipts and online coupons. The only thing slowing them down? Spam. Says Merrick: "Spam kills e-mail as a marketing tool - it's like a virus."

Refinery

Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

• No.: 279
• Annual Growth: 129.3%
• Total Growth: 646%
• 2003 Revenue: $10.8 million
• Employees: 78

Andrew Sullivan, founder and CEO of this interactive ad agency, believes that websites should function like little films, engaging users on an emotional level. Sullivan says Refinery continued to grow as other agencies suffered through the dot-com crash because it focused on pleasing its Philadelphia-area clientele.

Just Marketing

Indianapolis

• No.: 283
• Annual Growth: 127.2%
• Total Growth: 636%
• 2003 Revenue: $10.6 million
• Employees: 18

A former professional auto racer, Zakary Brown now helps big brands such as Travelodge and Smirnoff market themselves to the growing throng of racing fans. Now that he's mastered the U.S. market, he's making his move into Europe.

Intelliseek

Cincinnati

• No.: 294
• Annual Growth: 123.3%
• Total Growth: 493%
• 2003 Revenue: $4.1 million
• Employees: 45

Mahendra Vora likes to think he*Ps built his fourth business with Midwestern values, a New York pace and a Silicon Valley culture. The company mines, classifies and organizes market and branding information, which can be accessed through Intelliseek*Ps custom software by clients like Ford and Gateway. Vora, a native of India, has no qualms about coddling his employees. Case in point: When one recently married worker could not afford a honeymoon, Vora had the company pick up the tab.

Innovative Marketing

Minnetonka, Minn.

• No.: 330
• Annual Growth: 111.2%
• Total Growth: 445 %
• 2003 Revenue: $4 million
• Employees: 11

Shane J. Erickson started selling sports cards in college. When he moved out of his dorm, he added Beanie Babies to the mix. Today, his company markets and sells a range of sports promotion merchandise over the telephone to booster clubs and sporting-event vendors.

Kaizen Direct

Rochester, N.Y.

• No.: 338
• Annual Growth: 108.8%
• Total Growth: 544%
• 2003 Revenue: $2 million
• Employees: 67

Kaizen Direct handles direct mail and telemarketing for small financial services firms, such as mortgage and insurance companies. What's different is its pricing model: Instead of charging a flat rate or an hourly fee the way most marketing agencies do, CEO Jeff Rogers bills customers based on the number of leads his firm's campaigns actually generate.

Creating Results

Occoquan, Va.

• No.: 357
• Annual Growth: 104%
• Total Growth: 416%
• 2003 Revenue: $3.6 million
• Employees: 13

Todd P. Harff's advertising agency, which serves real estate companies, barely survived the late 1990s. "Clients disappeared owing us money," Harff recalls. He has since restructured agreements to ensure more up-front payments from clients.

DDM Direct

Buffalo

• No.: 366
• Annual Growth: 100.4%
• Total Growth: 402%
• 2003 Revenue: $5.9 million
• Employees: 25

Direct-mail marketer DDM has found an unexpectedly lucrative niche - religious groups. The company designs, prints, and mails fundraising materials for parishes across the country and helps churches keep track of contributions.

ath Power Consulting

Andover, Mass.

• No.: 376
• Annual Growth: 97.9%
• Total Growth: 489%
• 2003 Revenue: $2.7 million
• Employees: 22

This market research firm conducts mystery shopping trials and employee training for banks and retailers. Founder Frank Aloi says his biggest mistake in eight years in business was pouring money into developing software. "We wanted to keep everything in-house," says Aloi. "But then you realize you can't do it all at this size."

Proven Direct

Menomonee Falls, Wis.

• No.: 381
• Annual Growth: 97%
• Total Growth: 485 %
• 2003 Revenue: $5.7 million
• Employees: 74

Mike Limbach has never been afraid to try new things. Case in point: This past year, his direct marketing firm released Digital Marketing on Demand, or Digi-MOD, which allows customers, such as the American Medical Association, to design and order fully customized marketing materials online at any time.

Database Marketing Group

Santa Ana, Calif.

• No.: 385
• Annual Growth: 95.8%
• Total Growth: 479%
• 2003 Revenue: $20.9 million
• Employees: 28

The Internet was supposed to kill old-fashioned paper mail. But "mail is stronger than ever," says Jay Engstrom, whose agency specializes in direct mail ad campaigns. The firm's edge is a technology called eDMS - an online system that enables businesses to customize and mail hundreds of flyers quickly and cheaply.

Data Warehouse

Boca Raton, Fla.

• No.: 407
• Annual Growth: 91.8%
• Total Growth: 459%
• 2003 Revenue: $22.6 million
• Employees: 205

Data Warehouse focuses its direct marketing talents on the booming mortgage industry, handling marketing campaigns from beginning to end. In a supercompetitive market, finding the right people is key, says CEO Benjamin Waldshan, who subjects job candidates to a battery of psychological and intelligence tests.

Communispace

Watertown, Mass.

• No.: 424
• Annual Growth: 88.7%
• Total Growth: 355%
• 2003 Revenue: $2.4 million
• Employees: 25

"Marketing is broken - people are sick of being spammed and everyone is saying 'just shut up,'"says Diane Hessan. Hence Communispace, which lets clients such as Hallmark and Unilever listen to their customers for a change - by creating online communities from which they can draw valuable market information.

Y2Marketing

Irving, Texas

• No.: 470
• Annual Growth: 79%
• Total Growth: 395%
• 2003 Revenue: $20.1 million
• Employees: 81

For longtime friends Richard Harshaw and Edward Earle, the customer is not always right. Their hard-driving marketing program, Monopolize Your Marketplace, takes a blunt approach in communicating and negotiating with potential customers. But clients seem to enjoy the abuse: This is Y2's third visit to the Inc. 500.

Studeo

Salt Lake City

• No.: 474
• Annual Growth: 77.4%
• Total Growth: 310 %
• 2003 Revenue: $41.8 million
• Employees: 65

Revenue at Studeo spiked when it landed two big national clients: Kaplan, the publisher of standardized test guides, and Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit education company. That was a big change for a company that had worked mainly with smaller businesses. Fortunately the staff adapted, says CEO Jeff Smith, learning new marketing techniques such as generating leads through the Internet.