Location: Syracuse, N.Y.

URL: www.mower.com

Key executive: John Favalo, managing partner-group B2B

Employees: 250

2008 revenue: $33.3 million

2008 b2b revenue: $17.9 million

Key clients: Eastman Kodak Co., FedEx, Fisher-Price/Mattel, Motorola Corp., Nucor Steel

Major 2008 campaigns: Eastman Kodak Co., "Print Is," print, online, events; Motorola Corp., "Solutions Advisor," online; Nucor Steel, "It's Our Nature," print, online, out-of-home

Comments: Increased agency revenue by 30%; won new clients including ADT Security, GE Energy, Syracuse Research Corp., Technicon Industries and Verizon Wireless; won five BMA Pro-Comm Awards.

Eric Mower & Associates combined innovative creative work with deep audience insight to deliver exceptional results for clients and grow its business in a challenging year.

The agency's total revenue increased 30% in 2008, with growth coming from new clients including ADT Security, GE Energy, Syracuse Research Corp., Technicon Industries and Verizon Wireless. In addition, the agency expanded its work with existing clients such as Georgia-Pacific and Motorola Corp.

“By August, we had already started to see some budget cuts happening in a number of areas,” said John Favalo, managing partner-group B2B at Eric Mower. “Given that the profile of our accounts is heavily in building and construction, we saw a lot of shifts and a lot of changes.” However, he added, “We still had a very good year.”

The agency greatly expanded its scope of work with Motorola, adding demand generation and lead nurturing for Motorola's Enterprise Mobility unit, which offers a wide variety of products and services for data collection, collaboration and communications on mobile devices.

Eric Mower created a campaign using interactive tools, such as the Solutions Advisor, which makes specific recommendations for customers based on needs in their warehouse, plant or enterprise. It developed an integrated program around the Solutions Advisor, using online advertising, email and major supply chain industry trade shows. The campaign resulted in a 28% conversion-to-lead rate.

For Nucor Steel, Eric Mower created a campaign to help position the company as a leading voice on environmental responsibility. The campaign included print and out-of-home advertising, such as innovative floor graphics that were placed in key commuter areas in Washington, D.C., to influence policymakers. The ads appeared to show the floor opening up to expose steel beams below, with a headline reading, “Recycled Steel. Everywhere.”

Another ad showed a flattened car ready to be recycled with a headline reading, “One of 9 million cars we recycle a year.” A post-campaign tracking study found that familiarity with Nucor increased 9%, and the percentage of respondents ranking Nucor's reputation as “excellent” increased 35%.

For Kodak, Eric Mower was tasked with developing an integrated campaign to drive traffic to the client's booth at Drupa, the largest global trade show in the graphic arts industry. The agency created an awareness campaign including print advertising, PR and trade show support, which resulted in more than 10,000 qualified leads from the show.

Eric Mower grew its national presence as well, merging with Clarke Advertising & Public Relations in Sarasota, Fla.; Mark Russell and Associates in Atlanta and Syracuse, N.Y.; and Shawchuk Brown Associates in Albany, N.Y. It also opened an office in Los Angeles.