Mayor Foxx’s Small Business Visit at Tattoo Projects

October 17, 2011

Mayor Foxx’s Small Business Visit at Tattoo Projects

Mayor Anothony Foxx paid a visit to our Charlotte advertising agency to discuss our success as a small business in Charlotte. The Mayor’s office published a recap of his visit.

From AnothnyFoxx.com:

What motivated you to start a small business?

Executive Creative Directors Rudy Banny and Buffy McCoy Kelly have two decades of experience in the advertising industry, building brands for clients, and winning international awards for their creative work. We worked in major cities, including Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles.

We learned a lot about pushing the envelope during that time. We worked together at the 52-person, $58 million agency Banny owned in Pennsylvania. There, we saw a lot of inefficiencies in how the industry is run – and we felt that we could do it better, and created what we believed to be an agency of the future.

Over the years, we’ve received consistent feedback from clients and consumers that the work we do is highly memorable. That’s a huge compliment, because making memorable work is what good agencies are supposed to do. We named our agency Tattoo, because we leave indelible impressions with the work we create for our clients.

Why did you choose Charlotte to be your company’s headquarters?

We researched top U.S. cities, based on business and economic development, quality of life, property values, and proximity to a major airport. We compared cities that rose to the top ten in multiple surveys in these categories.

Based upon research and rankings, we narrowed our search to Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Charlotte. Although Vegas ranked highest, it didn’t make sense to us, for raising our families. We went to Atlanta, even put money down on houses – but after 10 days of recon, decided that the congestion was a deal-breaker. Buffy and Rudy’s wife Laura came to visit Charlotte, stayed at the Morehead Inn, rented a red convertible, and put Charlotte to the test. It was perfect, and we loved the city immediately.

How has your business grown over the past few years and how do you envision growth in the coming years?

We’ve experienced a lot of growth in the past year. Our revenue increased from $1.5 million in 2009, to $4.5 million in 2010; we also grew from 5 to 12 full-time employees.

Our goals include working with clients in the Charlotte area: Lance, Meineke, and Bank of America.

We are focused on providing our clients with on-trend communications mediums, and providing them with the solutions that will best serve their needs. It’s our job to constantly bring new ideas, new problem-solving approaches – and that’s the foundation of our business.

As trends dictate, we are moving more into the space of tightly integrating digital/social with traditional media.

Tattoo Projects was recently named one of the 2011 Small Ad Agencies of the Year by Advertising Age magazine. The Small Agency Awards honors the top advertising agencies nationwide, with fewer than 150 employees. These awards historically go to agencies in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Hundreds of agencies were considered for the award—from the U.S., Canada and 20 other countries as well. Winners were selected based on business performance, impact of the work on marketers’ businesses (ROI), thought leadership, and innovation.

Being named one of the Small Agencies of the Year means we are able to bring fresh attention to the marketing community in Charlotte, which will draw creative talent and additional business to the area. Most importantly — we are able to offer national caliber creative marketing resources to Charlotte businesses, right in their own back yard!!

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