LEAD Marketing Agency plans expansion in preparation for new hires, doubled revenues in 2015

Expecting to see revenues double this year, LEAD Marketing Agency President Tom Sullivan says his agency plans to hire five more full-time employees on top of the four already hired since the beginning of 2015 to accommodate the agency's growing roster of new and continued clientele. 

"While we have steadily increased our client base through the years, our growth is due primarily to the success of our clients," says Sullivan, who founded LEAD Marketing Agency in 2008 alongside Matt Tiedgen to fill what Sullivan says is a void in Grand Rapids of agencies that provide comprehensive, long-term marketing and advertising strategy for midsize to large companies. "We've earned increased responsibilities and business from them." 

Sullivan says the additional five hires will be account managers, digital specialists and digital coordinators. 

"Ideally we'll hire talented professionals with experience working in large agencies on large accounts," he says. 

LEAD Marketing has been the agency of record for Consumers Energy's media planning and buying since 2010 and the digital media agency for the moving company Two Men and a Trucks' 270 locations nationwide. The agency was instrumental in landing NFL All-Pro Calvin Johnson as the spokesperson for Brann's Steakhouse and Grill, a client since 2008. The marketing agency has also collaborated with Michigan's newest microbrewers, Alaskan Brewing, for the "highly successful" launch of the brand in the state over the past year.  

LEAD also coordinated with Carbon Green BioEnergy on its successful West Michigan launch of its YellowHose campaign in October 2013, which promoted E85 fuel at select "YellowHose" locations and has since led to expansion throughout the state and into new Indiana territory. 

Sullivan says aside from keeping up with technology and digital marketing techniques, it's not necessarily the medium, but rather the message that wins LEAD Marketing Agency's clients the kind of success many have seen over the past few years. 

"Typically we work with clients to develop their annual marketing strategy and then implement the tactics in order to reach their goals," Sullivan says. "We are interested in measuring the results and being accountable for them." 

Since October of 2013, Sullivan says his agency has hired five new employees that have moved to Grand Rapids from large agencies in Chicago and Detroit to work for LEAD – a sign of Grand Rapids' increasingly positive reputation as a destination for young professionals in creative industries. 

"We're seeing that Grand Rapids is now on the radar for these talented, young professionals," Sullivan says. "They are attracted to what we are doing here." 

Sullivan says LEAD Marketing Agency also plans to double the square footage of its 2311 E. Beltline SE offices from 1,836 square feet to 3,230 square feet to create more workspace for new employees expected to join his team over this next year. 

"We are nearly doubling our square footage, tearing down walls within our office and hiring nine new employees in 2015," he says. "It's exciting."  

For more information on LEAD Marketing Agency, visit www.leadmarketingagency.com. 

Written by Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of LEAD Marketing Agency