SMALL BUSINESS
Pun and Profit
July 19, 2004
Al Stewart
Though few are likely to do so, shoppers can thank Renee Miller for those fliers warning about the threat of West Nile virus.
After her advertising agency won a contract to publicize the emerging threat of the disease, Miller knew the budget wasn't enough to get the word out.
So she reached out to local retailers, and many - including Albertson's Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. - agreed not only to distribute the information, but to pay for printing and other costs. While the stores saw it as public service, Miller saw it as an example of why her small agency, The Miller Group, is still around after 14 years.
"It's a small piece of business and we had to find a way to stretch the budget," Miller said in her Santa Monica office. "We had to do something a little creative so I called around to some of the retailers and got them involved."
Miller says her shop has been able to thrive by taking on what the major agencies don't: projects with small budgets usually involving clients that are not a household name. While there have been TV spots along the way, the bulk of the work has been print, radio, outdoor and direct mail.
Aside from the Greater L.A. County Vector Control District, the independent public health agency that's spearheading the campaign on West Nile virus, The Miller Group handles Leiner Health Products, a maker of dietary supplements and nutritional products, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-profit environmental group.
"Some clients gravitate toward the bigger agencies but there are always some who want more personalized service. They want to know that the head of the agency is working on their business."
Stephanie Miladin, the public information officer for the Vector Control District, said the organization discovered The Miller Group through a search on the Internet, which revealed its past public interest experience.
"They have saved us so much money," said Miladin, estimating that the campaign has generated about $1 million worth of exposure. "They were just so aggressive about getting the retailers involved and getting people to come to our press conference."
Early campaigns
Stan Waldman became one of the agency's first clients when he hired The Miller Group to promote the expansion of his commercial cooking equipment company, Wolf Range Co., into the consumer market in 1990.
"They became part of our marketing department," said Waldman, who retired in 1996 after the company was sold. "We made products for the commercial marketplace and we knew we weren't a household name. They took the time to learn the business and created some very nice ads for us."
In the end, Miller said, success is the ability to execute ideas that draw attention in a crowded field. In that respect, she believes she can go toe-to-toe with ad agencies of any size. If nothing else, the company's portfolio suggests that it is not afraid to risk stretching the bounds of good taste.
In a print ad for Annabelle Candy Co.'s Rocky Road candy, a nostalgic black-and-white photo of three young boys includes the message: "Today, they're in rehab. But we're as good as ever." A print ad for the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles simply says, "We don't do hymns. Yeah, right."
"I wanted to use the line 'All hymns. No hers.'" explained Miller. "But they told me they didn't do hymns. I just laughed when I heard that and said 'Yeah, right.' That's where the line came from."
Miller is especially proud of a TV ad for a pet store, in which the viewer sees a serious-looking woman move her face closer and closer as if carefully examining whatever it is that's lying on the ground.
"The layering is nice but the hue is off," says the woman in the commercial. "It could be firmer," she adds. After it becomes clear that the focus of her attention is dog droppings, the woman says that maybe a different type of dog food might be in order.
"It was kind of risky," said Miller. "But if the client is open to doing something a little edgy, then I'm all for it."
A native of Cleveland who received a degree in journalism from Ohio State University, Miller worked in her chosen field for only six months, as a police reporter for the Arizona Republic.
In 1980, she headed west after landing a job in corporate communications for Torrance Memorial Medical Center. After two years she hung out her shingle as a one-woman public relations office. The move into advertising came only when one of her clients, TransAmerica Corp., asked her to buy advertising space for them.
Miller said she has no illusions about gaining the stature of some of the big agencies that dominate the business in Los Angeles. She also says she is well aware of the numerous shops that have opened and closed during her 14 years in the business.
"We're doing what we want to do," she said. "We're breaking new ground and making lots of noise for our clients. That's what's most important."
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