Despite the economic slowdown, Anvil Media has managed to continue measured growth in 2008. In September alone, Anvil brought six new clients on board, including Amy Sacks Eyewear, BOORA Architects, Dapper Frog, PGE’s Green Power Oregon, Milgard and Point6. In addition, Anvil expanded its engagements with Nautilus Bowflex and Horsepower Freaks. Note: Anvil’s SEO Audit for Horsepower Freaks increased organic search traffic by over 1,000 percent in the first two months after implementation.

For agencies out there that are struggling through the economic downturn, I encourage you to shore up your client relationships by taking a deeper look at online marketing strategies, and how they integrate into the traditional marketing mix. Highly measurable, low-cost marketing campaigns are in great demand, and search engine and social media marketing are a natural solution. I encourage agency and client-side marketers to review their overall strategies and ensure all ad dollars are being measured and are generating a meaningful return-on-investment.

If you’re looking for more insight into how search and social media marketing can help you or your clients market more effectively, visit Anvil’s Resources section for helpful articles and our Clients section for illustrative case studies. In down economies, direct and online marketing pick up brand advertising and PR budgets, so it’s important to “stay close to the money,” as my uncle always says.

Congrats to PAF Member company Koopman Ostbo on great new client news.KOOPMAN OSTBO EXPAND ITS ROSTER OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE CLIENTSBoyd Coffee Company and Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc. have selected local integrated marketing communications agency Koopman Ostbo (KO) to support their public relations programs. With the addition of these two clients, KO continues to expand its food and beverage industries portfolio.

Boyd Coffee Company, headquartered in Portland, Ore. is a provider of specialty coffees, espresso, rare estate coffees and teas, and related equipment for restaurants and other foodservice operations nationwide and abroad. The 108-year-old company is a privately-held company managed by the third and fourth generations of the Boyd family. Boyds offers more than 650 coffee and food items, and counts renowned establishments such as Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Metropolitan Grill and the Old Spaghetti Factory among its clientele.

Boyd Coffee Company sought KO’s expertise and strategic counsel to develop a public relations program and raise awareness of the company, its products and services. KO is also working with Boyd on tradeshow support and launching new products.

Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc., based out of Burlington, Wash., is a unique wheat/gluten-free food manufacturer producing gourmet gluten-free products. They initially launched a popular line of pre-formed frozen gluten-free cookies. The mother and daughter owned company also created the first online gluten-free cooking magazine in 1999, called Glutenfreeda.com. This Web site has more than 20,000 subscribers who are mostly gluten-intolerant customers, and offers a wealth of new and archived information featuring more than 5,000 gluten-free/wheat-free recipes.

This gluten-free food company, which recently achieved national distribution, tapped KO to create a public relations program to build awareness of their line of gluten-free cookies and resource website, as well as support launching future products.

“Our expertise in the food and beverage industries has allowed us to continue to make an impression on the media landscape for both clients and at the same time help them grow their business,” said Ken Koopman, Principal of Koopman Ostbo. “Boyds and Glutenfreeda are a great addition to our roster and we look forward to continuing our proven track record in our PR efforts.”

 The StudioBard crew started September rolling with the launch of a full-length feature film project, Magic Man. The movie, co-written and directed by long-time StudioBard client Stuart Cooper, is being produced in Los Angeles and edited by Bill Butler (Jaws, Grease).  Michael Bard will be the sound supervisor on Magic Man and will oversee the entire audio post-production - including a 5.1 surround mix at StudioBard. Party like a Rock Star! @Large Films dropped in to record and mix a set of web videos promoting Stage Kit - a new accessory for the Wii game, Rock Band. The project marked another successful venture in the collaboration between @Large Films and StudioBard for Nintendo’s Wii gaming system. August was a busy month for radio with projects from the Hallock Agency, Gard Communications and Wieden + Kennedy.  Engineer Brad Spradlin was out in the field recording interviews for ID Branding and Tri-Met’s educational program, “RideWise.”  Michael Bard was at the console composing an original score for Cappelli-Miles [spring] and Peace Health. Vocal diva Julianne Johnson (star of the recent stage production of Dream Girls) fronted a gospel group in the studio, adding her own brand of soul to the custom soundtrack on those TV spots. AudioLandscapes, the multi-media branch of StudioBard, has been named a finalist in the 2008 NAI Media Competition for their audio program, “Eastern Sierra Roadside Heritage/Hwy 395: Paiutes, Prospectors and Pioneers.” AudioLandscapes is also excited to announce the launch of their newly revamped website! With client-friendly updates and a fresh, new look - plus space to blog about new projects and ideas - the website is a powerful tool to connect clients and producers.  See for yourself at www.audiolandscapes.com!

OREGON’S LARGEST INTEGRATED MARKETING AGENCY EXPANDS  NATIONAL REACH, OPENS SECOND OFFICECMD, an integrated agency that has grown into a regional powerhouse by offering a deep bench of marketing solutions, is opening an office in the Charlotte, N.C. area. The agency has hired Joe Marion as a regional account supervisor to head up the new, second location. The agency is expanding to be able to better serve a number of its clients, including JELD-WEN, ATI and Western Star (a subsidiary of Freightliner) - companies that all have a large presence on the East Coast. CMD also handles major marketing projects for companies including Intel, HP and Cisco, and views the expansion as ultimately benefiting all of its clients. ”We live in an age of being able to operate remotely, yet the fact remains that there are key regional differences that need to be taken into account when it comes to providing strategic marketing solutions. Having offices on both coasts allows us to be responsive to that fact,” said Phil Reilly, president of CMD. In the past 30 years, CMD has continually evolved to stay ahead of marketing trends and deliver solutions that businesses require, including advertising, design, Web, PR, film and video, traditional and social media services. According to Reilly, the ability to transform based on clients’ needs has helped CMD expand while other agencies have been forced to cut back. ”There are so many ways to communicate now. The fact is that clients need agencies that can deliver in all of those different channels and generate demand,” said Reilly. “The outdated model of having separate advertising, PR and online only agencies is quickly going by the wayside. That’s been to our advantage and it’s allowing us to expand.”