Address: 135 W. Wells St. Suite 800, Milwaukee, WI 53203
Website: www.stirstuff.com
Year Founded: 2000
Product or Service offered: STIR is an advertising and integrated marketing agency known for disruptive creativity and highly effective campaigns.
Projected 2013 Revenue: $22 million
President and CEO: Brian Bennett
Target Clientele: STIR is adept at a variety of scalable marketing techniques with a variety of industries and companies of all sizes with concentrations in the areas of health care and medical products, retail, tourism, and professional services.
Business organization memberships: Business Marketing Association, Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, International Association of Fairs & Expositions, United Ad Workers – Milwaukee 208, VISIT Milwaukee, VISIT Savannah, Public Relations Society of America
What has fueled your company’s growth?: “We have taken our own brand of medicine. We have utilized a highly effective content marketing and email campaign to attract leads and we have raised the quality of our work to an extremely high standard, winning many national and international awards for creativity and excellence from multiple advertising, marketing, and trade organizations. This quality combined with reasonable pricing, enabled by our business model, represents a high value proposition for perspective clients.”
What is the biggest obstacle to your company’s growth?: “What we sell is rather sophisticated and it is gaining in complexity by the day. There is a bit of a learning curve to appreciating all the disciplines our firm has mastered. Simple questions can often lead to long answers. We are combating this through our commitment to education and partnerships with our clientele.”
Do you plan any changes in your company in the upcoming months?: “We intend to stay the course with continual investment in top talent and training. We will maintain our focus on the utilization of the latest communications technology to generate better results and lower pricing for our clients.”
Who are the business people, locally or nationally, whom you admire? And what traits do those people exhibit that make you admire them?: “I admire Scott Walker for his demonstrated leadership in the face of adversity, his faith, and unflappable personal nature. I admire Steve Laughlin who was once an employer and mentor to me, and who continues to inspire me by keeping his company growing and relevant.”
What is the outlook for the business conditions of your industry over the next several months?: “The communications industry is slowly recovering, a parallel to the economy in general. There are many opportunities today for agencies that can demonstrate a mastery of messaging and the utilization of the many strategies, varied tools and media required for success. The outlook is not as rosy for those whose products and technological prowess have not kept up with the times.”
What is your company’s most important growth strategy right now?: “Marketing. We will demonstrate our capability and attract a great deal of attention to STIR through thought leadership in our field with a special focus on integrated marketing.”
