Atlanta-based IMAGES USA marketing agency celebrates its 20th anniversary

March 11th, 2009 › Uncategorized › kyhightower ›

In an economy plagued with cutbacks and downsizing, Atlanta-based multicultural marketing agency IMAGES USA, is experiencing record growth and celebrating its 20th anniversary.

On Tuesday , March 10, from 6 to 9 p.m. IMAGES USA will hold a celebration at its West Midtown home. Live music, salsa dancers, and more will entertain clients, vendors and celebrity friends.

The agency will hold its annual client summit the next day. IMAGES USA has invited industry experts to make presentations to clients, vendors and staff. Former McDonalds CMO Bill Lamar, University of Georgia’s Dr. Jeffrey Humphreys, Tanya Odom of FutureWorks Institute and Steve Hilderbrand of the Obama presidential campaign are among the presenters.

“We are fortunate to have clients who are able to stand strong in this economy. They understand that strategic positioning in times of crisis is key,” says founder and CEO Robert McNeil, Jr. Those clients include Amtrak, AARP, Brown-Forman, Sara Lee, and Teach for America, among others.

“Often the marketing budget is the first to get cut in difficult times — especially dollars allocated for multicultural,” notes IMAGES Partner and Executive Vice President of Business Management John Lockyer. “But our client partners recognize the benefit of continuous dialogue with consumers, so we’ve been able to grow and prosper for these 20 years.”

“The summit is a perfect opportunity for us to collectively introduce fresh ideas,” says Ricki Fairley-Brown, Partner and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Planning. “It’s the breeding ground for synergy. We often develop great programs from the discussions.” As chief strategist at IMAGES USA, she oversees most projects from conceptualization through activation.

McNeil started IMAGES USA in his dorm room at Georgia Tech in 1989. At that time the fledgling company’s main focus was creating event sponsorship opportunities, hence the name International Marketing and Global Event Sponsorship (IMAGES USA). Realizing a need for minority outreach, IMAGES USA set itself apart from similar organizations by focusing on ways to reach the African-American and Hispanic communities.

Starting with clients like Pan-American Games and Anheuser-Busch, IMAGES USA quickly made a name for itself by aligning clients with sponsorships that provided significant return on investment. The agency has since expanded to include advertising, market research and public relations- but it functions under the same goal of maximum ROI.

IMAGES USA has chronicled its milestone on the company website. To learn more this multicultural agency, visit the website at www.imagesusa.net.

Via Targetmarketnews