Rockfish Interactive, a small digital agency based in Arkansas, has been named the winner of Ad Age's Small Agency of the Year Award. The honor is well deserved in light of the current economc climate. Thanks to its combination of technologists and marketers, the agency has achieved the almost-impossible: a projected nearly 70 percent growth in revenue during 2009.
So just how did the agency achieve such a feat when so many other agencies are struggling? "We don't want all of our cash flow and revenue to be 100 percent client-driven," said founder and CEO Kenny Tomlin. The agency's revenue model, Tomlin explained, requires that a healthy percentage of its dollars come from innovative businesses -- hatched from the minds of Rockfish staffers and created on the shop's own dime -- that generate positive cash flow for the agency.
Founded in 2006, Rockfish was the result of a merger between a local design shop run by CEO Tomlin and a local ad shop. The company has worked with Wal-Mart to build MyWalmart.com, and created the digital campaign "Secret to Great Hair" for Procter & Gamble's Pantene brand.
The organization is currently separated into two divisions as a means of ensuring future success. There's Rockfish Interactive (the agency operation) and Rockfish Labs, which the company describes as an incubator of technologies and products. To date, the incubator arm has launched a slew of web-based products, with an eye on spinning each off into standalone ventures. They include TidyTweet, a real-time filtering tool to help companies keep their Twitter feeds spam-free; job-listing site CrazyHotJob.com; and church management software Fourthbook.com.
