Ten Years In Love! Ad Firm Love Communications Celebrates Decade Of Success, Expansion

–Full-service ad agency continues to survive, thrive – even in difficult times –

SALT LAKE CITY – August, 2009 – It’s a true love story – the story of Love Communications, the Salt Lake City-based full-service advertising agency, marking a milestone this month: A decade for the firm founded by three guys who set out to see if they could succeed at running their own company.

Things weren’t so great in 1999. The Internet bubble had burst and then, as now, the economy was sluggish. Other advertising agencies in the Salt Lake City area were either closing their doors, consolidating or being purchased by bigger firms.

But with a little luck (and a lot of love) Love Communications survived – and even thrived – through both those tentative early days and some ups and downs ever since. Today, what was once quite literally a three-man shop has bloomed into one of the most prestigious and influential advertising agencies in the Intermountain West. The current Love Communications boasts a staff of 33 – working across all disciplines, including brand and account management, creative production and design, public and governmental relations, media planning and buying, Web design and development, in-house editing and production – and reported capitalized billings of some $30 million in 2008.

Founding partners Tom Love, Rich Love and Preston Wood were joined by a fourth partner, Alan Reighard, in early 2004. Together, the four have guided the company to unprecedented success and many blue-chip client associations, including R.C. Willey; the Utah Department of Health’s Anti-Tobacco “The Truth” campaign; University Health Care, United Way of Salt Lake, Arctic Circle, Standard Optical, Papa Murphy’s and USTAR, to name just a few.

“We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve been able to diversify to meet the changing needs of our business and of our clients,” said Tom Love, the agency’s president. “We were built to serve retail clients, which we still do very well. But we’ve also handled some very sophisticated public affairs, political and public awareness campaigns. Social and cause marketing has become another niche for us.”

A decade ago, Love Communications was outsourcing nearly all of its production and studio work; now, all of that is in-house, under the company’s “Studio Love” umbrella. Web design and related graphic work falls in the same category. “We’ve adapted because of the needs of our clients, and it’s turned out to be a very productive opportunity for us,” Love said.

Once again, the agency’s growth has been tempered by the economic downturn of the past 12 months, but even now the company has been able to weather the storm, avoiding layoffs and “working smarter” to service existing accounts while prospecting for new opportunities. For example, Love Communications has grown its on-line and social media services exponentially, and has helped many of its clients navigate the booming world of Web advertising and social media marketing.

The staff’s makeup has also changed over the years. Though turnover at Love Communications remains relatively low, an influx of talented, younger employees in recent years has also contributed to the agency’s ongoing success with their fresh energy, ideas, talents and perspectives.

“The advertising industry is constantly challenging,” Love said. “We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve been able to survive and thrive even in difficult economies. Today, our team is first-rate. I’m quite proud of the last 10 years, and quite excited for the next 10.”

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