Malone Advertising wasn’t dead in 1996 when Fred Bidwell took over majority ownership of the Akron-based advertising agency. But its lifeblood had all but dried up with the loss of a major client that accounted for 70 percent of its business.
Bidwell didn’t get the mature, thriving firm he’d bargained for. He had talented employees with too much free time and no outlet for their creativity. But they were unwilling to give up.
“Maybe we were in denial,” Bidwell says. “We just believed we were a great company and couldn’t quite wrap our hands around the idea that we were in a life-threatening situation.”
Rather than spend valuable time looking for capital and ways to cut costs, he rallied his staff, got the adrenaline flowing and hit the streets.
“We went back to the basics and pounded the pavement with good old-fashioned selling,” Bidwell says.
He switched from a departmental structure to a team-based system. Each team included someone from each department, from creative to operations.
“When you have teams of people responsible for the success or failure of their accounts, they really have ownership and know what’s going on,” says Bidwell.
The change in management style sparked the creativity of the staff.
“People were entrepreneurial, and the clients could see that,” he says. “They were having fun. They were able to make quick decisions. Creativity isn’t just confined to the creative department.”
The small successes motivated employees and kept them from walking. That allowed Bidwell and his creative team to rebuild the company one client at a time and reinstalled the confidence to challenge larger firms for business in the consumer retail market.
In today’s competitive economy, major retailers like WalMart and Target influence purchasing decisions. So Bidwell went after their suppliers, such as Kimberly Clark, Goodyear, Schwinn and Pfizer.
Malone made it attractive for chain stores to display and feature the products of these companies. Consumers responded, and today, Malone is a dominant player in its market. How to reach: Malone Advertising, (330) 376-6148
