Today’s marketing world is undergoing dramatic changes due to the rapid advancements in technology. These changes have created a unique marketing intersection where brands, consumers, technology, and data all converge. The Brandon Agency, a Charleston SC-based integrated marketing and communications firm, is sitting in the middle of this convergence.
The Agency leverages creativity, technology, data, cross-disciplinary thinking, and next-generation storytelling to help its clients grow. As one of the only 24 agencies worldwide to be certified as brand strategists, The Brandon Agency focuses on aligning its clients’ business objectives with their brand strategies to create overall corporate marketing strategies that deliver the best results.
Growth and Geographic Expansion
The Brandon Agency was established at Myrtle Beach in 1959 by Cecil Brandon. Cecil was a highly creative visionary and was before his time in helping turn Myrtle Beach into one of the most popular tourism destinations in the world. Cecil’s son, Scott Brandon (CEO at The Brandon Agency), joined the company in 1993 and added core competencies and services such as web development, public relations, organic social media, SEO, and analytics.
Later in 2004, the agency made a bold move by opening an office in Charleston, SC and moving its headquarters there. Thereafter, The Brandon Agency acquired expertise and clients in the B2B, CPG, Financial, Healthcare, Telcom and travel sectors through organic growth and key acquisitions in 2013, 2014, and 2015. The growth and geographical expansion have helped The Brandon Agency become one of the largest independent agencies in the Southeast.
Comprehensive Marketing Services
Known as an agency with business minds and creative hearts, The Brandon Agency is a digitally-centric, data-driven integrated marketing and communications firm on a mission to develop and execute revolutionary business-building ideas that help its clients grow. The company provides a bouquet of marketing services including,
- Brand Strategy
- Media
- Pay Per Click
- eCommerce
- Analytics
- Content
- Social Media
- Public Relations
- Email Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
It also provides Conversion Rate Optimization, Interactive Web Development, and Retail Experience marketing services. The Agency specializes in high growth industry categories such as Healthcare, B2B, Outdoor Leisure, Financial, CPG, Travel and Tourism, Telcom and Utilities.
The COVID-19 Conundrum
The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the marketing landscape altogether. The pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the sales channels of The Brandon Agency’s clients. Many of its clients have boosted their direct-to-consumer efforts with great success. Likewise, with its ability to pivot quickly and focus on the clients’ efforts utilizing their owned media assets and AI-assisted paid digital buys, The Brandon Agency has managed to overcome client losses from traditional channels.
Furthermore, the pandemic hit the company with challenges such as business development and pitching. As calling on prospects and getting face-to-face meetings was difficult, the company relied on its inbound marketing efforts and made sure it was easily discoverable for those looking for help. These additional efforts paid great dividends and as a result, this year, The Brandon Agency added the most number of new clients in its history.
Amplifying the Service Portfolio
As the pandemic highlighted the need of direct-to-consumer strategy, The Brandon Agency fortified its talent in the paid digital media, development, SEO, and analytics teams. The company also incubated a specialized Amazon marketing team within the agency to help its clients increase sales. Moreover, on the B2B side, it is continually working on honing its knowledge and skills to assist its clients in leveraging their CRM tools better. “We are becoming experts at using Salesforce, Paradot, etc.,” added Scott.
Stepping up in the Crisis
As a leader, Scott believes that transparency, empathy, honesty, and communication were the keys for The Brandon Agency to thrive in these uncertain times, “Team members want to know what’s happening and how we’re doing. They also want to know that their leaders care for them as people, not just employees,” he added. During this crisis, The Brandon Agency’s team has stepped up notably. Working from home, the team members have kept up the volume of work and been there for each other. The Brandon Agency takes pride in the fact that it went through the crisis with no layoffs, no furloughs, and no pay restrictions.
A “Level Up”
The pandemic has enforced the transition to remote working. While some organizations struggled to adapt to the transition, The Brandon Agency was quick to adjust to the shift. As the company has offices in four US cities and one abroad, it had been using Zoom for meetings and web-based project management systems long before the pandemic. Its technology was set up for anyone to work from anywhere. Alongside technology, the company maintained a competitive, tough, smart, fun, and responsive culture to combat the crisis.
Besides technology and culture, The Brandon Agency’s theme going into 2020 was “Level Up”. It wanted to take its skillsets across the agency to a new level – one that would help it attract larger clients. The company has maintained the theme throughout the pandemic and has not abandoned its commitment to growth. The theme has helped the company to stay focused throughout the year.
Technology: The Driver of Change
Scott believes that technology will continue to be the driver of change in the industry in the near future. “Not only the technology available to us as marketers with AI and predictive capabilities but the technology available to the consumers and how their use of technology impacts how they consume media,” he added. As the digital commerce channels continue to expand, The Brandon Agency is focused on growing its expertise to address these challenges.
