Fechtor Advertising LLC

A leaner route from brief to finished work

From Columbus, Ohio, the founders bring large-agency experience to a leaner working model. The firm's own emphasis is on cutting the steps between brief and finished work. It says its approach combines decades of work for big agencies and big brands with a simpler process, so that clients get effective and memorable advertising without layers of approval between the idea and the result.

Distinctiveness as the first task

The firm opens its approach with the idea that every product, service or organization has something that makes it different and that only it can own. Its work is to find that quality, embrace it and then express it, because the firm believes this is what turns businesses into brands that people come back to. A client who is not sure what its distinguishing trait is can start with the firm finding it.

Four steps of strategy

The strategic process is described as common sense in four moves: set the measures of success first, learn what the audience responds to, study the category and its rivals, then implement, evaluate, refine and repeat. The firm argues that the creative element comes from insight and a creative twist rather than from proprietary jargon, and says it does not have a fancy name for that process.

Advertising across every medium

The firm counts television, online video, social posts, websites and landing pages as advertising, and it says each should be judged by whether it works. Its view is that digital specialists do their best work when they are led by a clear strategy and concept, and it builds digital solutions so they integrate with the brand rather than running separately from it.

Branding beyond the logo

Branding is treated as a strategy in its own right, covering purpose, values, positioning, personality and promise. The firm defines brand as the sum of what people think and feel about an organization, with the logo and other visual elements acting as shortcuts to those feelings. It says it has created brands from scratch, evolved existing ones and brought tired brands back to life.

Design with a purpose

Design is presented as serving advertising. The firm says it works across print, outdoor, digital and other media, and that great design matters most when it connects people in a way that motivates action.

Industries and client mix

Across its partners' careers the work has reached tourism, retail, automotive and packaged goods, and the client list spans food brands, property developers, schools, public agencies, lenders and veterinary and animal-care firms. Its partners are described as award-winning creatives who work directly on client accounts.

Fechtor Advertising LLC is an advertising and branding agency in Columbus, Ohio. Its founders draw on experience at large agencies and pair it with a leaner working style that keeps the route from brief to finished work short.

What Fechtor Advertising LLC offers

• Advertising: campaigns across television, video, social media and the web.
• Branding: brand strategy that treats a logo as one signal among many.
• Digital design: websites, landing pages and graphic design.
• Video production: filmed content for campaigns.
• Content and copy: writing for corporate and retail brands.

Clients

Brands in food and beverage, real estate development, education, economic development, financial services and animal care, among other sectors.

Key facts

• Based in: Columbus, Ohio, USA
• Strategy approach: goals, audience, category and competitors, then implement and refine