Profiles: Noble & Associates
Ask Noble & Associates executives how the agency managed to more than double net revenues to $8.1 million last year, and they answer, “Teamwork.”
In this shop’s case, that’s not just a pat answer.
Two years ago, the Springfield, MO-based company took a chance by reorganizing, shifting from a department-based foundation to a grouping of 10 interdependent client-focused teams. “Our people wake up each day thinking about those two specific clients that they’re focused on,” says ceo Robert Noble. “When you focus on a specific category like we do, it creates a passion that doesn’t exist when an agency dabbles in several fields.”
If one team falls behind on a project, it recruits talent from another without having to leap any office-politics hurdles. “It’s really changed the way we go to market,” says executive vp-general manager Keith Acuff. “Whether you’ve been here a week or 10 years, everyone now has a reason to push hard.” Noble added 30 new staff members in 2000, swelling its employee ranks to 170. However, the team structure allows the shop (No. 11) to continue functioning as a small, nimble entity.
“They’ve been our agency for as long as we’ve had an agency.”
— Catherine Phillips, Tyson Chicken
Noble’s specialty is business-to-business promotions, as in campaigns for packaged goods manufacturers targeted to food service vendors and retail accounts. Clients include such heavyweight promotion marketers as Kellogg USA, Keebler Foods, and PepsiCo.’s Frito-Lay. The shop’s existing clients substantially increased spending in 2000, when total billings jumped from $6 million to $15.4 million; long-time client Tyson Foodservice jumped back into the game after a dormant period. But about one-third of Noble’s growth came through new accounts including Sara Lee, Uncle Ben’s, and M&M/Mars.
In an age when most promotion agencies seek retainer-based relationships, Noble is content to operate primarily on a project basis — partly out of tradition, and partly because it helps the shop stay sharp. “On a retainer, the client manages the agency,” says Acuff. “On a project basis, we have to manage the client and stay on our toes to give them what they want. Frankly, we do more work for our project clients than the ones that have us on retainer.”
Much of Noble’s best work takes place behind the scenes. Last year, the company developed a promotion for Tyson Chicken called Fast Movers that targeted both commercial (such as restaurants) and non-commercial (such as school cafeterias) operations. The program downplayed the highly recognizable Tyson brand, instead focusing on giving retailers and distributors a way to promote themselves.
Targeted accounts received direct-mail pieces containing CD-ROMs linked to a fastmovers.com site. The packages contained unique identification numbers recipients could use to access a special area where they could find customizable P-O-P materials such as posters and signage — sans any Tyson logos or imagery. Noble arranged a partnership with office-services chain Kinko’s that offered accounts discounts on copying and printing.
“We had to get Tyson products in the hands of small operators in a way that made them take notice and act on it,” says Acuff. “We took a big national promotion and turned it into local marketing.” The campaign doubled sales, prompting the brand to repeat the effort this year.
Springdale, AR-based Tyson was sold on Noble’s merits long before Fast Movers, however. “They’ve been our agency for as long as we’ve had an agency,” which harks back to the early ‘70s, says Catherine Phillips, Tyson vp-food service marketing. “We like their ability to specialize. I don’t know if I believe in full-service agencies. We look to outsource for different applications.”
Staying honest with accounts about what works and what doesn’t is another strength, clients say. “They’ve done a good job of staying open with us,” says Amy McMinn, a promotion specialist with pet food giant Iams, Dayton, OH. “They’re not afraid to say ‘This isn’t working, let’s try something else.’”
This year, Noble will spearhead an aggressive entry into the retail grocery channel for Maumee, OH-based Hickory Farms. The shop’s mission includes both penetrating supermarkets and generating awareness among consumers for Hickory Farms’ other sales channels: print catalogs, the Internet, and a network of mall kiosks. “You’ll see all four divisions — grocery, catalog, Internet, and malls — coming together on common promotions,” says Acuff.
“That moment of truth between the brand and the consumer begins right at the retail shelf. From the packaging to the display to the consumer’s home, the brand message needs to be presented seamlessly,” adds Noble.
Seamlessly, but quietly.
