Stuart Elliott
Many of the best-known agencies in Minnesota are rewriting a line uttered by the self-help guru Stuart Smalley ? aka their new United States senator, Al Franken? and declaring, ?We?re good enough, we?re smart enough, and doggone it, people ought to like us.?
The agencies are setting aside their usual rivalries to join forces for the promotion of the state?s biggest city, Minneapolis, as a place for anyone in advertising to work and live. The centrepiece of the effort?to be called MinneADpolis, the City of Advertising?is a web site scheduled to start this week (minneadpolis.com).
The website will include samples of campaigns produced by Minneapolis agencies, video clips of employees discussing why they like the market, information on events and careers and even a virtual tour of the town that can be taken with personalised avatars called advatars, which can be dressed in skinny jeans, flannel shirts and other signature outfits of the creative class.
The 27 agencies taking part in the ?Kumbaya? moment are members of the Minneapolis chapter of the Four A?s, the new name for the organisation formerly known as the American Association of Advertising Agencies. The website will initially feature six of those agencies; plans call for the site to be expanded to include all 27.
The goal is to ?raise the profile of our advertising community and showcase this culture,? said Nanci McMenamy, the chairwoman of the chapter, which is ?a different culture that offers a way to get new ideas.?
Although ?the first places people typically look to are New York, the centre of advertising; the coasts; and Chicago,? said McMenamy, who is also a vice- president and director at the Minneapolis office of BBDO Worldwide, Minneapolis offers ?an opportunity to get great work that builds brands without the cost structures found in New York and Los Angeles.? Minneapolis started growing into a force in the ad business in the 1980s as the industry started decentralising after decades of dominance by agencies in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.