Armed with a bike, camera, and plenty of water, we set out to profile the creative agency scene in Minneapolis. Follow our journey.
LEVEL
Core Service: Advertising
Additional Services: Branding, Web, Mobile, Research/Insights, Marketing Strategy, Media
“No bad creative.”
These are words to live by at LEVEL, a strategic advertising agency who does so much pre-work, that by the time a client sees creative, they “get it.” Others get it too, as a lot of their work is recognized by industry associations as top-tier, evidenced in their recent Gold awards from the Medical Marketing & Media group.
People
LEVEL is led by industry veteran, guest lecturer, and author, John Foley. He has assembled a team that clients describe as having “better business acumen than most agencies.” We spent time with both John and his business development specialist, Ali Hagberg. How was it? Well, here’s the tweet we sent out right after our visit:
Expertise
Everybody wants to be liked. This is where LEVEL can help, with an exhaustive research, alignment, and communication process that in the end, delivers loyalty, revenue, and growth.
Values — Culture — Brand Promise — Customer Experience — Reputation
They’ve built a systematic process of getting these five tenets at their clients’ firms to align both internally and with customers. No easy task, considering many companies can’t even consistently articulate the first few. John’s written the book on this, literally.
They dig deep to understand how their clients’ businesses operate from the most practical perspective to the intangible, emotional elements. Once clients see the discrepancies in how their business is perceived, the agency shows them how the use of uniform messaging can set things straight.
All of this goes on before any creative is developed. But don’t fret, this doesn’t mean long, extended timelines. They can be swift and thorough, one benefit of their small size.
Check out how LEVEL updated health insurance giant, Medica’s image through personal, consistent positioning that has resonated well with their audience. They partnered with local artists (we told you MPLS was full of talent) to remake classic songs in a younger, refreshed way to deliver Medica’s message:
They’ve done this across healthcare, financial services, technology, retail, and publishing to name a few. Go check them out!
Place
Their place is HUGE! They’ve got two floors which is great for conducting research, spreading out ideas, and hibernating during the long winter. We loved the interchangeable banners hanging in the entry way that gave insight into which clients were visiting this week! Stop by and say hi to their super friendly receptionist and social media maven!
Check out LEVEL’s portfolio on Agency Spotter to learn more and see how you’re connected…
…if you’ve worked with them, give them a rating
…if you like what you see, share their portfolio
…if you’re interested in seeing how they could help you, contact them
Stay tuned as we continue our up-close profiles of great creative agencies in Minneapolis!
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- 5 Questions to Ask Your Next Advertising Agency (Agency Spotter)
- The Right Agency May Be Someplace Unexpected (Agency Spotter)
- Yes, You Do Need a Creative Agency (Agency Spotter)