All Aboard the Welcome Wagon

The Sells Agency has recently welcomed several new faces to our rapidly expanding team. As we told you in our last post, one of our summer interns will be making her time with us permanent. Sarah Kurrus, a very bright and talented recent graduate of Vanderbilt University, has taken on a new position as Public Relations Account Coordinator and will assist our clients with their diverse PR needs.

Because the additional help over the summer was such a relief, we realized that it’s time to open our doors to even more staff. Two new associates – Suzanne Hill, who joins our media department, and Kati Wessinger, an in-house freelance artist – are quickly settling in.

Suzanne is a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and has just completed a summer internship at another local agency. She will be a key part in the media planning and buying process. As a journalism major, Suzanne was very involved in campus leadership through the advertising club, student ambassadors and other organizations. She also has experience in leading large groups of spirited high school students as a head instructor for Universal Cheerleaders Association. We could always use the help corralling some of the more spirited characters around this office.

Kati will assist the art directors for the next few months, helping them tackle an increasingly busy workload. She, too, is a recent graduate from the U of A and is multi-talented in that not only does she excel at her agency projects, but she moonlights as a very talented baker, cake decorator and blogger. We promise, that the latter skill set had no influence on our decision to bring her on board, but those cupcakes she made last week were delicious!

Needless to say, we’re thrilled to have such an exceptional group of new employees. And we have a feeling we’ll be welcoming more soon.

A send-off for our interns

It is with both a sad heart and a sense of pride that we say 'good-bye' to our summer interns. While we're not happy to see the Class of 2010 leave, we are also very proud of what they have accomplished this summer.

They've broadened their knowledge of the advertising industry, not only seeing first-hand how an ad agency works, but also touring vendors. From television production to printers, Lauren has coordinated trips that exposed them to the many facets of our industry. If we have only proven to them that life is not exactly 'Mad Men' then we have done our jobs.

The interns have been involved with campaigns for almost all of our clients, but their primary project has been for Safe Places. This non-profit organization has been mentioned in an earlier blog entry and we'll show you the fruits of their labor in a week or two, but we've seen a peek at what they've done…and it's impressive.

Thanks to Robert Haynes and John Cater. They'll be returning to their schools (UCA and UALR, respectively) for their final semester before graduating. We hope to see them here at the Sells Agency sometime in the future. Sarah Kurrus, however, won't be leaving us. She is now working for us, full-time, as a Public Relations Account Coordinator. Congratulations to Sarah on proving herself this summer and showing us how foolish we'd be to let her get away.

To celebrate their last day, we'll be chowing down on pizza at lunch. That's one thing we know they've learned – we at the Sells Agency like to eat. Almost as much as we've liked having the interns here for the summer!

Taking Flight with Holland SheltAir Aviation Group

So far 2010 has kept us on our toes, and we’re excited to say that it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Here at the Sells Agency, we are thrilled to begin working with Holland SheltAir Aviation Group, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Founded in the 1960s as Holland Builders Inc., it wasn’t long before the general aviation development and contracting company started to expand.

Today, Holland SheltAir provides a variety of aircraft services to the aviation community through its network of fixed-base operations located in Florida, New York and Georgia. The group also encompasses aviation design-build and leasing subsidiaries Holland Builders Inc. and SheltAir Aviation Facilities. With Holland Builders Inc., SheltAir Aviation Facilities and SheltAir Aviation Services being under the umbrella of the Holland SheltAir Aviation Group, they are able to incorporate a unique combination of skills related to the development, management and operation of properties in commercial and general aviation.

As we begin working on a strategic marketing program for SheltAir, one of the primary goals in our work will be to streamline the marketing efforts of the three different Holland SheltAir operations. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as our partnership with SheltAir takes off.

Learning our ABC

We’ve had our hands full throughout the first half of this year helping ABC Financial Services, Inc. with a full rebranding effort. We’re excited to finally announce our partnership with this new client. Over the past 30 years, ABC has experienced tremendous growth. They were founded in 1981 as a simple billing company, but they have gradually evolved to provide full-service software, marketing and EFT solutions to fitness clubs across the country. This huge growth called for rebranding of equal proportion.

Among the efforts, ABC wanted the central focus of their ad campaign to be on their outstanding customer service and client relationships. We’ve illustrated this in various media, most prominently on their website. As well as updating the site with a new look, new functions and easier navigation, we took quotes from actual clients about their experiences and put them front and center. Nothing gets the point across like hearing results straight from the source.

We also updated ABC’s logo to give it a more modern feel. A curved line now swoops through the name, representing the company’s forward momentum. Check out their new look and all the progress we’ve made at ABC’s new website, www.abcfinancial.com.

Getting Safe Places out of Harm’s Way

Our interns met with local non-profit Safe Places last week and got a look at what the organization does for our community. It was an introductory meeting more than anything else, but it showed us that Safe Places is in desperate need of donations.

If you aren’t familiar with the organization, it is an advocacy group that provides a number of services to the area, like anger management classes, interventions for youth who have been exposed to violence or abuse, and trauma counseling, among many other things. It even houses Pulaski County’s rape crisis hotline.

Safe Places doesn’t get much funding from the government despite being a non-profit organization. The grants they receive provide some support, but never-ending operating expenses mean Safe Places is still short by an intimidating amount. Private donations are welcomed, but they are consistently few in number. Though police, hospitals and other local agencies rely on Safe Places to aid in some of their responsibilities, monetary compensation for their services is rarely offered.

That’s where we come in. Our interns will be helping Safe Places revise their marketing strategies, making them effective enough to get the donations they so urgently need. This includes an overhaul of their website, brochures, press releases and newsletters.

If any organization deserves recognition in the minds of our community members, it’s Safe Places. The valuable services they provide are offered nowhere else, so it’s important that we find them the support they need. We’ll be sure to report back as our interns make more progress throughout the summer.

Interns Make an Entrance

Our Career Clarity program kicked off Monday with our first batch of interns arriving to the office. They will be with us through the end of July, working in account services/PR, copywriting and art direction/design. Here’s a look at the chosen few:

Account Services/PR: Sarah Kurrus, Vanderbilt
Sarah comes to us from right here in Little Rock. She’s had other internships at PR firms in Little Rock and Nashville, but we’re betting ours will be her favorite. Sarah is the community service type and likes to travel. She’s involved in leadership programs at Vanderbilt, including within her sorority.

Copywriting: Robert Haynes, UCA
Robert is from North Little Rock and works for his school paper as ad manager and designer while classes are in session. He’s a big gamer and has no problem talking at length if someone asks him about his favorite RPG (that’s role-playing game for the rest of us). Our advice? Don’t ask him about his favorite RPG.

Art Direction/Design: John Cater, UALR
John is a graphic designer and illustrator from Lonoke. He freelances in web design and has completed several sites that will be used by his school. We’ve discovered he’s also a big video game fan, so he and Robert should get along just fine.

We’re excited to welcome our interns and watch the program as it gets underway. Next week, they’ll begin their very own project helping a local nonprofit, Safe Places. Until then, we’ve got them hard at work. Cream and sugar, please.

A Cinco de Mayo to Remember

Competition at the first Sells Agency Nacho Bowl was fierce, but we have to admit that our creativity far surpassed our scores. All four of our teams helped prove that it’s not whether you win or lose – it’s how goofy you look when you play the game.

The Bowl and the Beautiful, starring Jason, Emily, Kristen and Allison, quickly learned that bowling and dresses didn’t mix. The team went 0-2, but Emily emerged victorious with the prize for lowest score.



Amber, Thad, Leigh and Casey teamed up as the Bowling Stones. Coming into the match as underdogs, the team surprised themselves with a record of 1-1 and had a great time.



The Alley-pinos played well together and dominated their first opponent. EnchiLaura and Gregamole looked like pros while Markarita and Jade No Carne had some great frames.



The team to beat from the beginning was Spare Me. Mike, Rachel, Jon and Lauren came armed with wrist guards and their own bowling balls. Jon’s first game score, complete with five consecutive strikes, was the high score for the day.



The Alley-pinos took on Spare Me in the heated championship round – complete with heckling and scheming. Both teams bowled well and, as chance would have it, Mike bowled a spare in the last frame to defeat the Alley-pinos by four.