The chill of the economic downtown continues to have many in its grip, but it’s not winter everywhere: in Dallas, Texas, there’s a bright spot on the business landscape. 

Dallas-based digital marketing agency RAZOR has helped its clients post solid results throughout the down economy. So, to reward employees for a job well done, the agency launched a ‘Holiday Stimulus Package’ – each member of staff was taken to the local shopping centre with $200 from the agency to spend there. 

Tom Cole, president, RAZOR, explained the thinking behind the surprise shopping spree: “Even though RAZOR has had a stellar year in terms of growth, a holiday party somehow doesn’t feel right amid the larger cultural climate right now. We wanted to find a way to show employees how much we appreciate their role in this year’s success, but in a way that’s more meaningful given the current economy. The stimulus shopping idea seemed a good way to make employees smile, and also help local retailers get an early bump in the holiday shopping season. Everybody wins.” 

RAZOR grew 33 per cent in 2008 and 17 per cent in 2009, despite the down economy, and hired 41 new employees this year (a 23% increase), with nine positions still open. It grew from zero to $245 million in billings in the six years since it started and has added significant clients in the last two years – Wendy’s and The Cheesecake Factory – in addition to long-time clients Rent-A-Center and Domino’s Pizza.

It puts its success down to ‘using customer intelligence to plan one-to-one media that customers prefer, in a way that drives results in sales and engagement’, which it says is ‘the new marketing’.

The agency adds: ‘It’s all about ROI – now more than ever, marketers are under more pressure to deliver results, taking a ‘no prisoners’ approach in requiring every marketing program to be measured and deliver a high return on investment; there’s simply no room in the current system for marketing programs that can’t prove their worth in driving sales. This is good news for agencies like RAZOR because it possesses proprietary tools for showing every client how to drive ROI from every marketing tactic. It’s of course bad news for traditional agencies, which have traditionally not focused on ROI.’ 

These traditional agencies are no longer effective, says RAZOR: ‘ROI and accountability for results have never been the forte of traditional agencies – which have focused more on creating national television ad campaigns, rather than on marketing tactics that could show a CEO exactly how profitable the programs are that they are investing in. The game now is about engaging consumers one-to-one on their own terms (not as a mass audience of a TV ad), which requires the kind of expertise RAZOR has in insight and analytic horsepower in order to crack that nut for every client.

‘The landscape has shifted and it’s not turning back – leaving traditional agencies that are too big or too stuck in their old ways, in the dust. One look at the results from a ‘new agency’ like RAZOR, even during a down year, tells that story loud and clear.’