What a year it has been! While we at The Martin Group celebrated our 10th Anniversary and received numerous accolades from our peers and community this year, never far from our minds were those who actually got us to where we are today: our clients. So, as 2011 draws to a close, we’d like to thank all our wonderful clients, past and present, who have given us the opportunity to become the only real branding agency in Buffalo.
We went straight to the source and asked each of our TMG Brand Managers, Brand Strategists and Account Coordinators what their role in client and account services means to them. Read on to get to know our team a little better – and see just how much we appreciate our clients.
We’ve all been there. You go to a restaurant because you hear that the food is really good – and it is good – but you swear you’ll never go back because the service was awful. I’m a firm believer that the same analogy applies to advertising agencies. We can develop strategic and breakthrough creative, but if our clients feel we’re not providing adequate service, they’ll go elsewhere.
Brand Management Service is the “value-added” in our industry, and we here at TMG strive to be accessible, accountable advocates of our clients’ brands so that, at the end of day, they feel they’re receiving good value in the service provided. My goal is for our clients to feel like they can come to us with any challenge and we’ll find a way to deliver, while making the process of working with us as easy and pleasant as possible.
We stress the “service” in “Brand Management Service,” and that means letting our clients know that they can reach us when they need to, even if it’s after business hours or on the weekend. We will find a solution regardless of the challenge, and that gives our clients the comfort level they need to let us do our best work for them. It’s also admitting when we make a mistake, and doing whatever it takes to make it right. Our Brand Management team members become an extension of the client’s team, keeping an eye on the competition and providing insight and recommendations. And most importantly, we have the clients’ best interests at heart and are always advocating for them.
Lastly, I think a strong account services team can never rest on its laurels. The business climate is ever-changing, and The Martin Group’s clients’ needs are changing with it. We have to continue looking for new and better ways of working with our clients and providing the value and the service they need.
– Lisa Strock
What I love about my role at The Martin Group is the ability to build relationships with my clients. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to work across a variety of industries, all of whom possess their own individual branding challenges and opportunities. I enjoy taking the time to get to know each one of my clients, their organizations’ strengths and weaknesses, and the unique differentiators that set them apart in the marketplace.
In my role as Brand Manager, the additional reward comes in being able to share that knowledge – and relationship – with the internal creative team and seeing how advertising, marketing and strategic thinking can catapult these businesses to the next level and drive consumers to act.
– Julie Molenda
I’ve been at The Martin Group for over three years, and the last eighteen months as an Account Coordinator have been incredibly rewarding. Getting to be a part of such a powerhouse team of individuals is an honor and the learning experience of a lifetime. We have such an incredibly wide variety of clients, there’s no telling what challenges we’ll face on any given day – or even any given hour! But that’s all part of the partnership. Their deadlines are our deadlines; their success is our success.
And that brings me to my absolute favorite aspect of Brand Management Services: client meetings. The collaboration and conversations that arise while working together on a project are instantly rewarding and incredibly fun. That interaction and give-and-take is what makes this such an amazing job. Ultimately, I’m grateful to be part of such an incredible team, and to have some pretty awesome clients.
– Marilynn Militello
Being a Brand Manager at The Martin Group for the last two and a half years has been such a great experience. I have been fortunate to be exposed to a number of different industries, ranging from healthcare to industrial manufacturers, which has allowed me to grow professionally by living and breathing each company and their brand day in and day out.
I take great pride in the relationships that the team builds with each client, not only establishing a professional relationship, but in some cases a friendship as well. I love being a Brand Manager because I have the opportunity to learn about different businesses, create solutions for marketing challenges, and ultimately see The Martin Group’s work help our clients succeed.
– Sarah LaPare
As a new Account Coordinator at The Martin Group, I’m still learning the ropes a bit. However, this hasn’t prevented me from appreciating the opportunity I have to work with a number of different clients in a variety of industries. From healthcare, retail, and financial companies to academic and athletic organizations, I’ve been fortunate to assist many of TMG’s Brand Managers with the needs of their diverse client base.
I’ve really come to appreciate how different every client’s needs are, and how differently those needs should be handled. My favorite part of my role so far is sharing the knowledge gained from client relationships with the creative team – and seeing how that knowledge helps create marketing solutions that add to our client’s success.
– Britney Godfrey
A friend of mine once said that the hallmark of great service in a restaurant is having a full water glass at all times – without having to ask for it. In the world of marketing and advertising, I believe that exceptional account service also means having a proactive team on your side.
We should know your business, anticipate your needs, and present solutions that deliver the results that matter to you. The Martin Group’s Brand Fuel process sets the stage for this to occur naturally, as we dig deep to understand your organization, your industry and your unique position, and then ensure that the creatives working on your account are on board with your brand and your needs. Having this foundation allows us to become a true partner and extension of you to help you reach your goals. In a nutshell, great account service is never having to say you’re thirsty!
– Kelli Putney
To me, Brand Management Service is about forging and managing great relationships. The client and agency relationship is about being in partnership. Like personal relationships, business relationships are built on a foundation of respect, trust, communication, understanding, commitment and patience. It’s not about maintaining one or two of the factors; it’s about hitting all six factors, day in and day out, with each and every client.
Brand Management Service is not solely the Brand Manager’s responsibility, just as the creative product is not solely the creative department’s responsibility. Here at The Martin Group, it’s the team’s responsibility as a whole to make sure each and every part of the equation is addressed.
– Scott Follett
When I think of great customer service, so many things come to mind, including well thought-out strategies, timeliness, thoroughness, a proactive approach and great project management, to name a few. But in the bigger picture, I feel all of these things lead to trust, which is paramount to strong customer relationships.
There’s no greater experience than gaining a client’s trust – trust that we’ll go above and beyond to meet their needs, day-in and day-out, and look out for their best interest (as well as their bottom line). This way, they can focus their time where it matters most, while feeling comfortable that we’re in their corner, doing what we do best.
– Melissa Skipper
I started at The Martin Group in February 2010 as an Account Coordinator, assisting Melissa Skipper, our Brand Supervisor, with several of her clients. It was my first job out of college, and I was unfamiliar with how an agency runs, but I was excited to learn as much as I could about our clients in order to provide the service they needed. Almost two years later, and with the new title of Brand Manager, the learning surely hasn’t stopped.
My favorite part of my role at The Martin Group is the opportunity to work with different clients on a daily basis, build and foster trusting relationships with them, and ultimately see how the creative team’s incredible work will help their brands become more successful. What I love about being on the Brand Management team is that no two days, or hours, are the same, and I’m continually growing and learning from my clients and colleagues. It’s a constantly changing environment here at TMG, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it every day.
– Shannon Toughey
