State of the state: marketing

Colorado companies have begun a new trend that is making big waves across the nation: National projects are coming to Colorado businesses rather than landing in New York or Chicago.
Motive, Moxie Media Group and GroundFloor Media are among the Colorado-based companies that have been working on both local and national projects.

Motive focuses on emerging media, grassroots efforts, digital work and brand development. The company was started eight years ago and now has a base of about 20 employees.

“Everyone has their specialization, but we are all big idea chasers,” owner Matt Statman says.

Motive’s latest national project was the DEWmocracy campaign for Mountain Dew. They were in charge of the three teams that campaigned for the flavors – Whiteout, Typhoon and Distortion. The Whiteout team came to Colorado for a few days and ended up winning the contest for the newest Dew flavor.

“This project allowed consumers to contribute to product creation, brand creation and brand development,” Statman says.

Motive does a large amount of work with Pepsi, as well as with Qdoba, Native Eyewear and Boingo Wireless. Its portfolio is made up of local and national brands from across the country.
“If you focus on being highly creative, really relevant, and being at the top of your game, I don’t think it matters where you are. We are able to service the West and East Coast, and the virtual world has made geography less important,” Statman says.

Moxie Media Group has the same mindset. This company began in 2003 and has eight full-time employees. The company is a hybrid between a brick and mortar organization and a virtual company, specializing in motion media, President Mike Schrader says.

National clients on Moxie’s docket right now are Avon, Universal Technical Institute and T-Mobile. All of these companies are located in different states across the map, but Moxie treats them all like they live in Denver.

“It really comes down to the way you manage that relationship, the way you meet that client’s needs and make them number one,” Schrader says.
GroundFloor Media is a Denver-based PR firm that also has a portfolio of national projects. It began in 2001 and currently has 25 employees. GroundFloor says it stands out among the other PR firms by hiring only senior level employees.

“We have an average of 15 years experience among the employees,” says Laura Love-Aden, president of the company. “The strategist is also executing, and there’s nothing lost in the translation.”
GroundFloor’s national projects have included Starbucks, Coors Light and Qdoba. Half of GroundFloor’s portfolio consists of companies that execute national projects.

Love-Aden believes that Colorado is a great place to be located because of the creative talent that can be found here. “It doesn’t matter who has the best idea, just who has the best execution,” she said. “Colorado has an amazing creative class.”
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