Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • October 3, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com CT ad man takes flight after agency closure By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Busienss Journal W hen Farmington advertising agency Keiler & Co. closed its doors in Aug. 2015, Wayne Waara- maa, the firm's creative director, faced a first- time challenge after 40 years in the industry: navigating life after a layoff. "I considered joining another ad agency," he said of his transition period, but chose a different path. "I decided to hire myself." While many former Keiler colleagues, according to Waaramaa, joined corporate marketing departments or moved to other agencies, he founded The Barnstorm Group, a boutique agency specializing in the aerospace and aviation industries. One year — and 70 projects — later, the decision seems to be paying off. "I was fortunate to have some loyal clients [from Keiler] who stayed with me and gave me a chance," Waaramaa said. And that bond with clients has grown stronger, he said, since he branched out on his own. "Larger agencies can have multiple layers — account managers, supervisors — between a client and the creative team," Waaramaa said. "Now, I spend much more time with my clients directly so I better understand their intentions and needs." While more direct exposure to clients has its upside, Waaramaa explained, he also understands the challenges of being a one-man show. "I wear a lot of hats now," he said. "I'm the creative director, account manager, writer and I have to handle the business side as well — from banking to taxes." All that juggling has taught Waaramaa the importance of partnering with the right people. He said he's hired for- mer colleagues from Keiler & Co. as freelancers for writing, production and public relations for certain projects. Waara- maa said sole proprietorship has also reinforced the value of focus. "To be successful, you can't be all things to all people," he said. "Clients need to understand who and what you are." While prior experience has shown him the pitfalls of being too dependent on a particular client, he said his choice to target a particular industry is both personal and professional. "Aerospace and aviation are huge industries in Connecticut and areas where I've spent much of my adver- tising career," Waaramaa said. "But I have always loved aviation personally; growing up, I wanted to be a pilot." And just as Waaramaa's career aspirations changed, so has the landscape of the advertising industry. "There's more client churning today in the ad industry," Waaramaa said. "Relationships [with an ad agency] that used to last decades may now last three years." In part, that trend's been driven by smaller advertis- ing budgets, but also by technological advancements, said Bernadette Grecki, president of the Ad Club of Con- necticut, the state's 425-member advertising association. "Technology has certainly changed the way printing and photography is done," she said. "Digital media, website and social media are, of course, playing a larger role." Waaramaa agrees and notes that more cost-effective social platforms — which provide real-time data analyt- ics to track usage and impressions — have impacted advertising spends in today's more cost-conscious busi- ness environment. "A budget for a $20,000 photo shoot years ago is today a $50 stock photo," Waaramaa said. With increasing demand for social content — Waara- maa posts daily for some clients — he said organization is a key to his success. "I can relate to the challenges that many businesses face being overloaded and under- staffed," he said. "But I've always been good at prioritiz- ing tasks and staying organized, so I'm not slowed down." With his company celebrating its one-year anniver- sary, Waaramaa has taken stock of the lessons learned and his successes. He would like to hire a writer in the near future to help with the volume of content clients need in a digital age. Forty-five years in, it's client satisfaction that contin- ues to drive Waaramaa's interest in advertising and his creativity. "I was visiting the CEO of my largest client and he had posters of the ads I'd done for them on the walls heading to his office," Waaramaa recounted. "He really loved the work and wanted everyone to see it; that kind of appreciation is what motivates me." That's the kind of interaction that in his past roles, Waaramaa may not have experienced — and one of the aspects of running his own company that he appreciates most. "Working for myself has been great," he said. "I have more flexibility now to do the best job for my clients." He's hoping that formula continues to help his business — and his aviation clients — continue to take off. n FOCUS MARKETING EXPERTS CORNER More media consumption means better consumer targeting for brands By Gary Capreol L ife was simpler when we just turned on the TV or opened a newspaper to get our news and information. Media consump- tion was straightforward and our jobs as marketers — although limit- ed — were easier. Fast forward to today's media landscape where consumers are more connected than ever before and, while more complicated, the opportunities are endless for marketers and brands. Technology has and will continue to grow at a rapid pace and the "always trackable" status of our lives is not slowing down. The implications for brands are significant, because the data con- sumers create (often unknowing- ly) can be analyzed and used to better target future messaging. Today there are 25 billion con- nected devices and this number is expected to grow to 75 billion by the year 2020. Half of these devices will be smartphones running on 5G net- works, which allow for 1,000 times the volume of data that we have today. The time users spend on their phones on social media, searching for information, and watching vid- eos creates a veritable gold mine of opportunities for brands to connect with their audience and provide rel- evant messaging and content ben- eficial to the customer. Even our homes are creating data that can be analyzed. By the year 2020, half of all homes will have several hundred connected devices — think "smart" home security systems, heating and cool- ing systems, and even refrigerators. The living room looks completely different now, with video program- ming being consumed across a multitude of devices, including smart televisions, computers, tab- lets, smartphones and streaming platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast and Amazon Fire. By 2020, more than half of the U.S. population will be consuming video programming via digital channels. So what does this all mean for brands trying to connect with consumers? The explosion of data and the amount that can be captured has now increased advertisers' abilities to reach core prospects in unprecedented ways. Technology is letting us get more personal than ever before, essen- tially magnifying our targeting capabilities by 10 times. We will be able to analyze data beyond just age and income; we will know the gender, age and number of people in a household, the video programming that the family likes to consume, and even all the devices they own. We can use this information to reach the audience we want, and where and when we want to target them. Emerg- ing media technolo- gies are poised to personalize the con- sumer experience — in real time, almost everywhere, and with new touchpoints. Advertisers will be able to reach individuals to make personalized recommenda- tions using "predictive analytics." For example, if a person's online shopping history is showing dia- pers and bottles, then a car com- pany could choose to serve a mini- van ad on their smartphone. Or if aggregated data shows that some- one just got married, an insurer may choose to deliver a "bundle and save on coverage" message. Having the tools and resourc- es to analyze data for brands and determine the best ways to reach core audiences is critical. Brands need to seek partners that will enable them to leverage the explosion of data to remain com- petitive in today's ever-changing landscape. Looking for designations like the Google Premier Partner certi- fication is one way to ensure your marketing partner can deliver competitive advantages when it comes to targeted advertising. This designation allows market- ers to take advantage of new online advertising products and offerings before they are publicly released ensuring a competitive edge when it comes to delivering results. Ultimately, the increasing ways that people are consum- ing media are providing more channels for advertisers to con- nect with their target audiences. By effectively analyzing data that can be gleaned from all the technology and devices avail- able to consumers, brands can target their messaging more suc- cessfully. n Gary Capreol is the senior vice president and director of media and analytics at Glastonbury marketing and communica- tions firm Cronin and Co. Gary Capreol Wayne Waaramaa has done ads for jet company Dassault Falcon (shown above) and the National Business Aviation Association. I M A G E | C O N T R I B U T E D Wayne Waaramaa wanted to be a pilot growing up, so it was a natural fit for him to focus on aerospace companies as his targeted ad-agency clients. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D

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