If you’re in a position of leadership, you often get asked for your opinion on where things are headed, or what might be the outcome of some announcement. Researchers, reporters, podcasters and the like, want input for their form of infotainment. It’s usually a question of whether or not it’s as good or as bad as it sounds. I feel we got a lot of those questions in 2024. Where is the industry going? I tried to be thoughtful about the answers I provided —some with optimism and others with less confidence. The industry is always going where the consumer takes it — by what they react and respond to. While we influence industry trends, we certainly don’t control them. Operationally, the industry is headed to more and more micro-targeting and on a never-ending quest for greater efficiencies. No matter the question, the answer could be found somewhere in those generalities.
Now, to reflect …
I confess I didn’t realize it while it was going on, but in the aggregate, 2024 was pretty damn (clean version) amazing for VI! A record-setting year in so many ways, all thanks to the people we get to work with.
First, VI is setting our third consecutive record in annual revenue. Our staff gets the credit for this because you have to do great work to gain new clients and retain and grow existing ones.
We won a lot of awards in 2024. A whole lot — including some we had not won before. We were nominated for three Heartland Emmys, which means you’re a finalist. We won one category for Oklahoma Tourism. We also won a national tourism industry award called a Mercury (through ESTO) and a Telly as well. Other new accolades for us were from the Shorty for Impact Awards and Social Marketing Association of North America (behavior change). Of course, we won our share of local and regional American Advertising Awards from the Advertising Federation and the local American Marketing Association’s Excellence in Marketing Awards.
Just as impressive as the awards are the different projects, mediums and channels we won them for: Design (publications, print and digital), web development, copy, video in short and long formats, editing, original music, social media, radio, out of home, newsletter design and integrated campaigns (of course!) This means there is a pursuit of excellence in all our work, no matter the department or discipline, our people strive to be, and have proven themselves to be, the very best. It is quite satisfying for this marketer.
We also had the opportunity to work on a new, long format video series for Oklahoma Tourism. We developed a new program called “Routes,” and it premiered last summer. Each episode is a masterpiece our team poured their souls into.
We believe we have a responsibility to support our community however we can. From blood drives, to aiding the homeless, to merely cleaning our block and the city park we call home, our team shows out for so many good causes.
Someone added up our donations and sponsorships for 2024 and it exceeded $150,000. I am humbled by that. Again, I give credit to our team for making us successful enough to be able to do it. We can’t support everything, but we do pour into those we do assist. And not just with dollars, but with marketing support as well. I think the publicity we generate exceeds the donation total, which carries forward the mission of those organizations. Way to go us!
Plenty of our team hold various board positions with non-profits and industry associations. We encourage this activity and do our best to support them in their respective roles. Again, we feel a responsibility to be active supporters in our community.
We had over 40 learning events for our team. Our industry continues to evolve rapidly, and we don’t just keep up, we lead. We must get better every day…
We had two Directors’ Retreats where we strategized, planned, communicated and debated. We invite significant others to the social parts of these retreats, and we get to show appreciation to them for supporting VI as well. We spent a lot more time with our supervisors this year. They are our future and are highly engaged in their own growth. I’m super-impressed with them.
We were involved in a number of business development opportunities. We won more business this year than the previous one for sure. Growth is good! Of course, you never want to lose any pitch, but I am happy with the performance of the core team. We don’t talk externally about new business very much.
We do know how to celebrate and party for sure. In January, we had our holiday party when all the remote staff were in town for our Q1 agency meeting. Collaboration is better when people know each other personally. And we had a lot to celebrate and communicate — we like to do that in person when we can.
Our summer party is just that: Quarterly meeting in the morning and then a big throw down the rest of the day. Every time we talk about changing up the party, we are asked not to. That’s success to me!
Our remote staff has been deliberate about quality time together when everyone is at the OKC HQ. Game nights, happy hours and I’m sure some things they keep from me. All good — I appreciate that they value and cherish the personal time with one another.
We plan for October’s Carne Diem over several months — our annual chili cook-off and street party that benefits United Way of Central Oklahoma. Hang with me here for a paragraph: Carne Diem is a HUGE lift for our agency — both in time and dollars — and it’s not just a 3-hour street party. We recruit restaurants to participate, but we need more chili than that for 1,000 people. So, we have a chili cooking party (in a commercial kitchen), where our staff (and their significant others) cook up about 60 recipes. It’s good for culture. Everyone has a role the morning of the actual event. We are the hosts for 1,000 guests and everything has to be up to VI standards. We execute well after 22 years of doing the event, and then… the after-party. This is a “thank you: to our staff for working hard to support our brand. The goodwill, good culture and good PR we get from having a great event is a true win for everyone involved. PROUD!
Q4 brings our annual Thanksgiving lunch followed by our Christmas ornament exchange. This event is far more interesting than it sounds. Yes, the lunch is probably what you expect — turkey, dressing, potatoes, and homecooked sides. We don’t all favor the same side dishes and it’s fun to learn each other’s family food traditions. The ornament exchange that follows the lunch has become a significant culture piece for VI. We draw names weeks in advance. I am amazed by the creativity, energy and joy that goes into these custom ornaments. I honestly can’t do it justice in words: People tell the stories behind their creation. We laugh a lot, and sometimes cry a little, and we always learn more about each other. It sounds corny, but it absolutely is a wonderful and loved VI tradition.
Of course, Beer Club (Thursday announcements) is a can’t miss. We do communicate pertinent business information — HR, IT, upcoming field trips, committee news, etc. — but, we also applaud new-hires, promotions, engagements, birthdays, anniversaries and other good things that happened to our team members. We also give a weekly core value shout-out to one deserving person. No parameters for it, just someone who has been obviously exhibiting one or more of our six core values. It’s a highlight of my week.
Of course, none of this matters if we aren’t bringing in big results for our clients. One of our clients claims a return on their marketing investment through VI as no less than 32:1. Another estimates it at 150:1. We work hard for these results. We aren’t guessing. We aren’t hoping. We are doing strategic work based on primary and secondary data, our own category expertise and a desire to improve results each and every day. Claiming to be the best at what we do is bold for sure. We are quite confident in making that statement today.
Nobody knows what 2025 will bring. I know we are entering it with a team of experts in more than 25 marketing disciplines. We intend to break more records, do our part for our community and blaze new trails.
