Last night at the Holmes Report SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding & Reputation) Awards, DeVries PR won the North American Agency of the Year Award. DeVries was also named the winner of the Mid Size Agency of the Year Award. What distinguishes DeVries from other agencies? I recently had the opportunity to learn more about DeVries from President, Stephanie Smirnov.
Boutique sensibility with big-agency discipline “For a mid-sized agency, we have an unusually short list of clients,” explains Smirnov. “At any given time, we are working with no more than 10 or so clients, which allows us to dedicate staff to usually only one or two accounts. This allows for a level of senior focus and service unlike agencies where staffers are spread across eight or nine pieces of business.”
While Devries was founded as a luxury fashion and beauty shop, 31 years later the client list is comprised of major consumer goods companies such as P&G, Gallo, Pepperidge Farm and Tupperware. DeVries is big enough to offer the discipline and corporate benefits that come with being a part of IPG, but manages to maintain the sense of style and pop culture savvy that made the original luxury fashion and beauty shop so successful.
Focus on the staff From Jim Allman, “the distinguished silver-haired CEO” who Smirnov describes “as accessible and warm and informal as you could hope for in an agency our size,” to the staff, whose median age is approximately 26, DeVries employees are passionate, enthusiastic and warm. Jim counsels his management team to "be as focused on the staff as the clients." It is no doubt these efforts that result in a staff that provides superior service to clients.
The company offers employee enrichment programs such as the “Broad Horizons” program, which was launched last year to give four employees a year a generous stipend to pursue a passion project that also enhances their work life. One employee from the Gallo Family Vineyards account team attended cooking school in Tuscany to learn more about the culinary and winemaking traditions of the region. Another staffer who’s passionate about cause marketing went to Africa to work with entrepeneurs who had started businesses with microloans.
Digital savvy and experience “We don’t silo digital as a separate practice area,” says Smirnov. “We believe that it’s integral to all the programming we bring clients, so we embed digital savvy and experience across all our account teams. We also have a Director of Digital Strategy who’s been in the online world his entire career – it’s his job to keep us at the forefront of how digital technology is affecting consumers’ lives as well as how we practics the PR craft. He also works across all our clients’ relationships to make sure they’re getting the counsel and inspiration they need. Digital reports in to me as part of our Creative and Strategic Services function, and I’m proud of the volume and quality of digital programs we’re leading for our clients.”
Why is DeVries so successful? Perhaps the answer is most simply stated in the final sentence in the DeVries mission statement. "Grounded in strategy and inspired by style, our people and our clients are creating new answers to the most important question facing marketers: What's next?"
Congratulations to DeVries and all of the other SABRE award winners.
For more info: Visit the DeVries website or blog You can also follow Stephanie Smirnov on Twitter @ssmirnov
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