Here's the scenario. There's this management team at a somewhat smaller company trying to deal with their annual budget and marketing plan. They use a variety of vendors for design, web development, printing and media. They occasionally try to find time to send a press release or participate in community activities to generate some PR. They might even drop a chunk of their budget on a special project with that "big ad agency" who has been calling on them. But, this leaves them just trying to scrape by for the rest of the year. Their time and resources are stretched to the limit and they ultimately find themselves with inconsistent branding and poor ROI. Sound familiar? It doesn't have to be that way.
In early 1989, with little more than a diploma and student portfolio to my name, I setup shop on a drafting table in the corner of my old bedroom at my parents home in Southeast Texas. I won't bore you with my whole story here, but if you're interested you can read my career bio in our recent press release. At that time I had virtually nothing. But, like most fresh graduates, I was ready to take on the world. Of course it only took a couple of short months for me to notice this trend of marketing awkwardness among the small business clients I was working with. Whether such problems were caused by internal politics, poor management, or any number of other factors really didn't matter. I felt there had to be a way to bring "big agency" results to small businesses that would normally settle for less. So, I committed myself to getting my act together and I moved into a small office on April 1. That's right, Catch Light Productions was born on April Fool's Day. No joke.
Enter the hub agency concept. A hub agency is a strategic alliance of independent firms which center around a small management "hub". The hub agency fills the gap between outstanding results and modest budgets by pulling together specialized teams to match the specific needs of each individual client. Some call it the "Hollywood Style" because each client, each campaign, and each project is tackled by the team who can best pull it off — just like making a movie. While many marketing firms and ad agencies handle only large-scale projects or full retainer accounts, we remain focused on bringing you what you really need most: options. Whether your company is in need of a basic logo or full-scale branding, a single postcard or a multi-stage ad campaign, Catch Light Productions' unique Hub Agency structure allows us to always provide the most cost-effective marketing solutions possible. This approach has served us well for 20 years and we believe it will help us to continue serving you better for years to come.
Now that we've made our first 20 years, what's in store for the next couple of decades? Well, the primary objective right now is to streamline our workflow. I admit that over the years I have spread myself a bit too thin. To help alleviate this, I will be assigning a personal account executive to each full-service client account. Your account executive will be responsible for all day-to-day correspondence and for ensuring that your marketing plan is always given the proper attention. On the other end of the spectrum, we understand that sometimes you just want to get what you need when you need it. To meet this growing demand, we'll be making many of our most commonly requested projects available for direct purchase right here at catchlight.com. You'll be able to select a basic project, add a few options, and place your order.
Regardless of where your business needs fit into this new structure, you can rest assured that I will continue to personally oversee every project that passes through Catch Light Productions. With this more efficient workflow and greater focus, I believe the level of productivity and effectiveness we can achieve will be exceptional.
All the best,
Howard Theriot
Catch Light Productions
What helps people, helps business.
—Leo Burnett
