Cincinnati PR

In 1937, Quaker Oats was paying the top sports superstar and corporate pitchman of the day, Yankee Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, the tidy sum of $25,000 annually.

Also that year, listeners nationwide first heard “The Guiding Light” on NBC Radio; Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd made their debut; and the Golden Gate Bridge opened in San Francisco.

Here in River City, a local legend was born in the advertising industry in 1937 when Bill Holland opened the William F. Holland Company in Downtown Cincinnati’s Glenn Building.

The heyday of radio was raging, FDR was President and Holland became a charter member of the National Federation of Advertising Agencies (NFAA). The young Cincinnati entrepreneur also welcomed his first client, the venerable Cincinnati brand Marmer’s Shoe Stores.

NEW OFFICE – NEW WEBSITE – CLIENTS AND GROWTH ANNOUNCED TODAY

Today, holland advertising : interactive enters a new era across multiple fronts:

– The opening of a new, relocated office in Downtown Cincinnati;

– The unveiling of a new website at http://www.HollandAdvertising.com;

– The announcement of a new name – holland advertising : interactive;

– A flurry of new clients; and

– A streamlined business model on track to boost 2010 revenues by at least 15 percent.

 

At holland advertising : interactive, the game has shifted from the heyday of 1930s radio to the rarified air of digital marketing, advertising and strategy.

The environment is just as challenging, the competition just as tough, the vitality of the work every bit as critical to clients’ success as ever.

The new Downtown Cincinnati office is in the Aronoff/Backstage District. It’s a tad smaller than the last, yet more collaborative with an open-space layout.

The faces are the same, however. The experience is unparalleled in its hometown market – and across the country, for that matter.

“It’s all about building clients’ business, which takes us back to my grandfather’s roots,” said Mark Holland, half of the Holland brothers tandem running the agency started by their aforementioned grandfather, the ubiquitous “Bill” seen in Holland’s marketing arsenal.

Yep, he’s a real dude.

The grandpappy, Bill.

The agency has been doing business in the City of Cincinnati – the furthest from downtown the office has been located was Clifton – every day for the last 73 years.

The oldest family-owned ad agency in Greater Cincinnati – third-oldest in the U.S., as determined by Holland and independent third parties – has responded to the economic malaise affecting the ad industry with a battery of digital marketing services, while answering the call for new clients such as Kaeser & Blair, Kutol Hand Hygiene Specialists, Place For Better Hearing, Mike Sells, The Cincinnatian Hotel and AmericanMortgage.com.

Work has also continued for a litany of long-time clients such as Mason Company; Troyke Manufacturing; ABS Business Products; Meister International; The Rug Gallery; Aquatic & Garden Décor; BB Riverboats; Habegger Co.; Towne Condos; Mullaney’s Pharmacy & Home Health Care; WSTR TV and Worthmore.

“We still do advertising. But the new holland advertising : interactive is far from the company my grandfather opened in 1937,” said Bryan Holland.

“The hook is strategy and technology, and how we can encourage people to interact with brands.”

After opening at the Glenn Building, the agency moved to the Sinton Hotel Studios at Fourth and Vine streets in 1941. The company originated six live radio shows from its Sinton Hotel Studios, the most popular of which was “The Firefighters,” a children’s educational show.

The show was moved to New York City in 1949, when NBC took over production, eventually syndicating in 225 markets.

In 1949, holland advertising : interactive moved to Mount Auburn at William Howard Taft and Auburn Avenue. It moved to Clifton in 1963, where the agency stayed until moving downtown in 2001. Holland’s previous office was one floor above its new digs in Suite 205, in the same 700 Walnut Building at Seventh and Walnut streets.

Founded in 1937, holland advertising : interactive provides leading-edge strategic brand development, distinct creative, and unique media planning and placement.

Here’s some previous Greater Cincinnati media coverage of Holland …. first up, The Cincinnati Enquirer, with a fantastic story from 2007 on the vendor network employed by Holland …. a manifestation of the agency’s popular “Vendor of the Month” club:

…. which was followed by a sweet Cincinnati Business Courier profile in 2008:

For more information, please call (513) 744-3001 or visit www.hollandadvertising.com. Mark can be reached at mholland@hollandadvertising.com; Bryan at bholland@hollandadvertising.com.

For media inquiries regarding holland advertising : interactive, please contact Mr. Andy Hemmer, aka TheWritingFiend@Large and President of AndyHemmer.com PR/Writing Services at (513) 604-5428 or andy@andyhemmer.com.

And to think …. it all started with a dude named Bill.