BigCom Ad Age Entry 2016

Biz Facts

Big Communications
EST. 1995 · 1 office
65Employees
Founded by
John L. Montgomery III

Top 3 Clients

InSinkErator
Valvoline
Tenet Healthcare

Other Notable Clients Acquired in the Last Year

Google
Coca-Cola Bottling Company United

Oldest Client
Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau
20+ Years

Agency Revenue

Staff Growth

Partners

John
Founder & President
For the past 29 years, John has been hooked on solving hard problems through smart strategy. John has built Big from a one-man PR shop into a sizable creative house that’s passionate about building brands powered by public relations DNA. As the agency’s chief cheerleader and lead blocker, John is involved in every level of strategy and execution with a head-on, hands-on approach to each client.
Ford
Chief Creative Officer
Creativity doesn’t come through luck or fortune or chance. It comes from tenacity. That’s Ford’s operational philosophy. Ford spent years building campaigns for brands like the Home Depot, Saks, Verizon, and Captain D’s, to name a few. Through that experience, he developed an unyielding belief that excellence is the price of entry for any idea we let out the door. That relentless spirit makes him an idea factory of the highest order and a champion of great thinking, no matter where it comes from.
Mark
Chief Brand Officer
Mark leads research efforts, messaging, and brand architecture for Big’s clients. With more than 15 years of experience in copywriting and research, his process is never formulaic. On behalf of the five Gulf states, Mark led nationwide consumer research to determine the effect of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the perceptions of Gulf Seafood. Mark’s insights and understanding of the nuances of consumer perception were part of the driving force behind the messaging and strategy efforts for the Alabama Seafood Marketing Commission. Mark has worked with brands such as Verizon Wireless, Ford Motor Company, Home Depot, and Made in Alabama.

History

When our fearless leader founded Big in 1995 at the ripe age of 27, you can bet he had no idea what he was getting himself into. John foraged through the industry solo for 13 years by hunting and killing small prey. He subsisted on a steady diet of local and state-wide PR clients. It wasn’t until he met Ford that he realized what had been missing from his game: creative execution. Together, their endless pursuit for excellency carried them to the digital age. And because survival of the fittest means constant adaptation, they designated Mark their strategic quarterback.

Thought Leadership

Content

We naively thought we could be on the front lines of content marketing back in 2011 when we were a 20-person PR and creative shop. We started talking about it and pitching it when it was still called brand journalism. We whiffed for months before landing our first piece of business in the space. We failed fast and hard to get it right and develop a model that was sustainable and profitable. In fact, we kind of revolutionized the way states do economic development marketing. In Alabama.

Let that sink in for a minute. Now we have a solid 5 years of content under our belts and keep pitching it like crazy. Plus, we hire publishing veterans to our team to continually make us think more like a publisher and not just an ad agency with a blog to fill. To date, this experience has translated into a 15-person team, and a sizable chunk of our revenue.

Media Tech

We figured we actually could have nice things, so we ponied up and bought a DMP. Is it expensive and complicated? Hell yes. But it gives our media team the ability to compete on a much larger scale and at a much higher level. Not to name names, but we've taken media business from two global shops in the last 9 months. No, not regional satellites or dinky little brands. We're talking big brands reaching big national audiences who demand a superior tech stack. Last we checked, we are one of only a few agencies in the region and one of only a handful nationally with less than 75 people equipped with media tech of this magnitude.

Hiring

Many of us came from jobs we weren't suited for or from companies that just plain hated us. We assembled this cast of knuckleheads from banks, startups, churches, publishers, universities, pest control companies, IT companies, and of course agencies. We hold to the belief that the diversity of where we find our misfits is part of what gives us a perpetual sense of naïveté - the key ingredient to keeping us curious and hungry and without laurels to rest on.

It's wildly unorthodox compared to how most agencies are assembled, because when you live in a small market, you have to turn every stone imaginable to find great talent. Plus, onboarding the largest client in our history made us grow real fast, and it also made us have to focus on our culture real hard. You can find that story in our culture entry.

Philosophy

Fig. 01 Core Values Also known as the motto because we’re about it every day

Youngat Heart

No matter our collective age, we will exude a spirit of youthful idealism, energy and love of the next, newest and most relevant means to solve a problem.
Hungrywith Relentless Pursuit

For us, it’s impossible to satisfy the desire we all feel to get better, work harder, think smarter and just plain win.
Wide Openon Full Blast

We only have one speed: guns-blazing. It’s how we create, it’s the way we pursue ideas and it’s how we approach all thing we’re passionate about.

Fig. 02 We actually talk to each other.

What’s unique about Big is our bond with one another.

We believe that we can always do better: that consistently challenging ourselves and supporting others is the best way to grow and be the industry leaders we are made to be.

So who are we really?

We are people who get involved, represent our clients, and represent our beloved city: Birmingham. We set out to spread the good in the world and we always tip well. We strive to earn respect from others. More importantly, we take care of each other and take pride in all of this.

Case Studies

In 2015, we earned our first national healthcare client when we added Tenet Healthcare Corporation to our roster. They are the third-largest hospital company in the U.S. with over 130,000 employees operating 84 general acute care hospitals, 20 short-stay surgical hospitals and over 470 outpatient centers in the United States, as well as nine facilities in the UK. Tenet is currently ranked #170 on the Fortune 500 list.

In 2015, we were named Agency of Record for Valvoline. Headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, Valvoline is one of the most recognized and respected brands in automotive circles across the U.S. from DIY mechanics to top motorsports teams. Established as the first trademarked motor oil brand back in 1866, Valvoline has grown into a global enterprise and a top competitor in both the DIY and quick lube markets. Their parent company, Ashland, is currently #370 in the Fortune 500 list.

Tenet

See Work

Valvoline

See Work

Culture

Overview

Boy, talking about company culture can be a strange thing. It feels a little like sitting down to pen an essay titled “What makes me and my friends cool.” Especially since we tend to largely think of culture as organic—a living, breathing, evolving, collective personality that is somehow immaculately conceived by itself. It’s the chicken and the egg: culture begets culture. If your culture is great, it’s because your culture is great! Congratulations! It’s like you’ve won a genetic lottery where the grand prize is simply “You are all super cool.”

That’s generally the feeling when people start working at Big: “This place is cool.” Not “wearing-sunglasses-and-popping-your-collar cool,” but cool interpersonally. Cool to each other, and to others. That’s because we are a culture of people who love people. But to an even greater degree—it’s because we trust each other. And here we begin to understand where company culture begins: recruitment.

We are a culture of people who love people.

Our philosophy? We only hire Big people. People who are passionate about communication and relationships. People who are passionate about their craft, professional growth, and seeing others succeed. Like-minded, like-hearted people whose blood, sweat, and tears are never just for themselves, but for everyone around them. The kind of people you want to be in the trenches with. People who you know will have your back, and who know they can count on you to do the same. This is more than just a measure of performance (which, by the way, is a very high bar), it helps foster a warm, familial atmosphere and a fundamental connection shared by every single employee.

And to make sure everyone has a constant reminder of this shared belief, we created our very own Operator's Manual to drive the point home even more. Different than an employee handbook, and not just simple bylaws, the Operator’s Manual covers every chapter of Big’s identity. How we treat each other, how we feel about judgement, how we think about performance, how we inspire positivity, and how we understand biochemistry, just to name a few.

But we can’t simply sit back and define culture. We must actively protect, preserve, and propagate it.

Big has experienced unprecedented growth over the past 3 years, and the last thing we wanted is to allow that growth to change who we are as an agency—and as a culture. That is where Big’s Culture Club comes in.

Culture Club

Elected by Peers
Mission
Foster + Sustain Culture

Culture Club is run by elected members from each department of the Big team that are seen as leaders within our organization. The mission of Culture Club is simple: to help foster and sustain our beloved collective personality. More than just a party planning committee or a living suggestion box, Culture Club helps facilitate the shared experiences that unite, encourage, and empower us. Whether it’s through rowdy fellowship, professional development, more subdued socializing, personal health, good office vibes, tasty treats, community outreach, or [insert other dope sh*t here], everything Culture Club does is in the pursuit of one thing: keeping us all connected in meaningful ways.

Shannon
Associate Creative Director, 6 years
Advertising is a tough business. Our jobs are rooted in problem solving—to tell compelling stories from oftentimes disparate information. There are client relationships and deadlines. There is so much vulnerability in creating for a living, but Big does an exceptional job of creating a comfortable, energetic environment for this kind of work. Retaining talent is a priority. People take care of each other. We are provided tools, resources and support when we need it. We talk often and openly about both personal and company goals—and we reach them. I’m so proud to be a part of such a brilliant team in such a special time in this company’s history.
Tyler
Outreach Coordinator, 2 years
Big Communications has bestowed upon me the glory of being surrounded by professionalism, openness, love—and kicka$$ talent that shakes me down to my very core. Big people are the type of folk who raise you (and a bottle of bourbon) up on your bad days, who epitomize creative ambition, who are more strong-willed than a horse in a saddle. Never, in any capacity, do we settle for the short straw. This team finds Young, Hungry, Wide Open kids and transforms them into fearless, peerless beasts of the advertising industry. Truly a group to be reckoned with.

Culture Facts

Who we are Excerpts from the Big Communications Operator’s Manual

Smart
Passionate
Selfless

We believe that we can always do better: That consistently challenging ourselves and supporting others is the best way to grow and be the industry leaders we are made to be.

NOTE: Habitual bar-raisers who can’t stand the idea of "good enough.”

Folks who

Care.
Get involved.
Represent Big.
Represent Birmingham.
Represent our clients.
Spread good.
Tip well.
Revel respectfully.
Earn respect.
Take care of each other.
Take pride in all this.

Folks who don’t

Talk trash about other agencies.
Talk trash about Big.
Talk trash about Birmingham.
Talk trash about our clients.
Leave a mess behind.
Leave a man behind.
Do the bare minimum.

NOTE: For revenue, staff growth, and top clients, reference biz facts. Biz Facts

Wrk Perks

Healthy Meal Delivery

Endless Snacks

Baseball Season Tickets

Dog Friendly Environment

Professional Development Opportunites

Apple Support Perks

Zyp Bikeshare Memberships

VIP Concert Tickets

Health Club Reimbursement

Parental Leave

Community Service Hours

Best Parties in Town

Karla
Digital Community Manager, 1 year
As a young millennial trying to define her place in the workforce, my number one priority in my job hunt was finding a company with a strong culture. At Big, I found just that—and then some. There’s just something special about working for folks who prioritize and genuinely care about their employees’ well-being. And we’re not just coworkers at Big: many of my closest friends are also my teammates with whom I have the pleasure of collaborating with every day. My job is definitely one I can brag about to fellow millennials, but it's also one I’m proud to come to every single day.
Satina
Senior Account Executive, 10 years
When I first came to Big in 2006, I was warned this place would consume my social life. It was a close-knit company where everyone knew each other well and did tons of fun things outside of work. Now, 10 years later, we have more clients, bigger clients, and 65 employees. But the best part of all that growth is that Big has retained all the fun cultural nuances that made me love it in the first place. In fact, it's even better now. Leadership has made a point to not sacrifice the personality of the company for the sake of growth. The #bigcomluv is real!

Agency

Tenet

About

Tenet Healthcare Corporation is the third-largest hospital company in the U.S. with over 130,000 employees operating 84 general acute care hospitals, 20 short-stay surgical hospitals and over 470 outpatient centers in the U.S. as well as nine facilities in the UK. They are currently ranked #170 on the Fortune 500 list.

Situation

After an extremely successful campaign promoting the women’s services of Birmingham’s Brookwood Medical Center (You may remember it as #ichooseb from our winning entry in 2013) through TV, print and digital ads, and social components, we were approached by their parent company, Tenet Healthcare, about executing a similar campaign—only this time on a national scale.

Challenge

In order to advertise the Labor & Delivery services for more than 60 different hospitals in dozens of diverse markets across the US, Tenet needed a smart, scalable solution that was both effective and cost-efficient. Finding the threshold between creativity and compromise was a must. We asked ourselves: How could we gain greater efficiency on production costs while still being able to effectively target our audience digitally through pre-roll?

Solution

We turned a question into an answer. Our solution was to execute a modular, customizable campaign kit that we could specifically version to fit the various markets. For us, the first step was research: understanding each hospital’s audience, position in the market, and tangible benefits allowed us to formulate an efficient plan for creating television, digital ads, and social content that could be easily tailored to fit every individual organization. After gathering intelligence from each hospital and market, we partnered with research organizations to thoroughly test messaging, hashtags, and creative concepts via online forums and live video focus groups comprised of our various target audiences. Our primary message vector was the idea of “Ask Your Friends” for facilities where the hospital OB line was established, already competing in the space, and where doctors would support a positive reaction should a consumer literally “ask their friends.” We also created additional message vectors, “Every Story Has A Beginning” and “You Have Questions. We Have Answers.” to test in hospitals with newly-established OB services or who were in competition with OB providers close to them with well-known doctors. Our test messaging would determine which secondary vector we took to market. Then, based on messaging results and creative feedback, we solidified our creative concepts by casting a mix of talent featuring various ethnicities appropriate to each market and made sure we covered every variable benefit for each hospital. Once it came time to produce the actual assets, execution of the customized TV/pre-roll and digital was a breeze thanks to all the groundwork we laid ahead of time.

Result

The result has been universally praised throughout the Tenet organization, as well as in the individual hospitals having also benefited. In return, it’s allowed us to add additional medical service lines on a national scale, work with individual hospitals all over the region, and grow Big’s footprint in the healthcare industry.

Work

Ask Your Friends
Local Campaign National Appeal

2 days. 2 scripts. 12 women. 13 children. Dozens of alternate lines. And one epic spreadsheet of hospitals, services, amenities, market positions, audiences, and demographic information. (Or, How to Make a TV Spot for 60-Something Hospitals Without Losing Your Mind!)

It took a lot of planning to deliver a campaign that could be used by Tenet hospitals across the country, all with wildly different audiences and market positions—but it was a challenge we were eager to embrace. And embrace we did; i.e., we held a whole lot of cute babies on set.

The final result was a comprehensive campaign kit, complete with TV/pre-roll and digital display ad units, that hospitals could customize based on their audience demographic, reputation, available amenities and more. The campaign was met with acclaim throughout the Tenet organization and has led to a lot of new friendships with individual Tenet hospitals.
Every Story

Next Case Study Close

Birmingham

Make a difference, make a living.

Since the inception of Big, founder John Montgomery’s abiding passion for our hometown has ensured that we are more than just a little agency in Birmingham, Alabama. We are, first and foremost, an agency of Birmingham. It’s no coincidence that our very first client was the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau (and that mutual lovefest has been going strong for 21 years now). We love Birmingham, and we love Alabama—and we chase every chance we can get to shout it from the proverbial rooftops. Our people personally make a point to get involved with the community, like working with local charities, serving on junior boards, and donating resources to those in need. Most of the time, we don’t even wait to be asked or paid, like our self-started campaign to return the nation’s oldest Veterans Day Parade to its former splendor. Rather than let the work we do for our community define us, we place higher value on how hard we work to better our city and our neighbors in the process. Simply put, we make a difference while making a living.

Working on our city.

This is just a fraction of the work we do in and for our city, its civic organizations, and its creative community. We have this driving belief that if we want to draw talent here, we have to constantly make our city awesome. So we have a nasty good habit of taking on projects that we know will have a lasting effect on our city, its culture, and its destiny to become a creative capital of the South.

Work

World Games

We had the challenge, privilege, honor of helping Birmingham bid for the 2021 World Games – an international sports competition that showcases up to 35 sports. This global competition meets every four years in a city chosen by the World Games and International Olympic Committees. In 2021, the World Games will be hosted right here in Birmingham. Just like for the Olympics, we created a stand-alone brand for the World Games entry that touts our city’s awesomeness, and it will serve as the master brand when the world descends on Birmingham in a short 5 years.
Zyp

Birmingham’s recent downtown revitalization meant its residents were in need of a more modern approach for getting places, like minor league baseball games, local boutiques, craft breweries, multi-purpose parks, and the endless list of critically-acclaimed restaurants that were popping up all over the map. A joint concept by Birmingham city leaders, Alabama’s first bikeshare program was born in 2015. We partnered with REV (another civic organization we named and branded) to help name and develop the brand. Ultimately, we wanted the program to feel as impressive as other major bikeshare efforts in the U.S. (think Divvy in Chicago) but to also feel like it had a Birmingham soul. But most importantly, we wanted civic-minded Birminghamians to ride the damn things. So, we named it a verb, made it modern and promoted it like crazy. And, yes, Big has a membership to ZYP that it gives freely to our employees.
Sidewalk

Sidewalk Film Festival is a celebration of new, independent cinema displayed throughout downtown Birmingham. Currently on its 18th year, Sidewalk is constantly deemed one of the hottest and up-and-coming independent film festivals in the U.S. We redesigned their brand identity and also helped them elicit sponsors and raise funds to make sure the festival stayed awesome.
BMA

Nothing defines a community more than its art museum. Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art has one of the finest and most diverse art collections in the Southeast. In 2015, we were tasked with rebranding the BMA and creating an identity that was flexible enough to work in the digital space, as well as live beside art from many different time periods. The insight that lead to our solution was simple: create an icon that was immediately identifiable as the museum without the use of words. The final icon was a simplified rendition of the face of the building that represented not only the familiar entrance to the building, but also felt like the quiet, reverent corridors and canvases inside.
Sloss

Birmingham needed a music festival something fierce. Enter Sloss Music & Arts Festival: a premier two-day festival held at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark that brought nationally recognized arts to the city in the middle of red-hot July. And it’s no coincidence the event is held at one of Birmingham’s most iconic spots: a 90-year-old furnace that ultimately gave rise to the city. We did everything for this event, from helping name the festival and develop its brand identity to helping tease its headliner on social and produce live-event graphics. We used the history of the location to inspire the look, but avoided the folksy, y’all-inspired look that would've predictably shown up at a music festival in Alabama. Instead, we created an industrial look that fit perfectly at the location and stood out dramatically among other festivals.
Veterans Day

Birmingham is home to America’s first Veterans Day, thanks to Birmingham native Raymond Weeks who lead the charge for getting this special day recognized as a national holiday in 1954. Every year since, representatives from the National Veterans Day organization have gathered troops across the state to represent our veterans with the celebration they deserve. When the parade saw a decline in participation over the years, Big decided it was time to contribute to this monumental milestone in history. So we launched an initiative for the National Veterans Day organization to help restore this Birmingham tradition to its former glory.
Vulcan

The world’s largest cast iron statue sits atop Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama. Designed by Italian artist Guiseppe Moretti in 1904, the Vulcan Man is not only Birmingham’s unofficial mascot, but it’s also considered one of the most memorable works of civic art in the United States. Last year we gave one of our city’s top tourist attractions a little design love, making sure the god of fire stayed on the hot list of things to do and see by those visiting our city.
Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau

More than just our oldest client, and arguably our first friends, the Birmingham CVB is the head cheerleader for attracting tourists and rallying locals to our beloved city. The CVB is involved in every facet of Birmingham’s activities, from critically-acclaimed restaurants to sporting events and top-choice schools – it’s all happening #inbirmingham.
Itty Bitty

The newest addition to McWane Science Center, Itty Bitty Magic City speaks directly to the Birmingham Children’s Museum youngest visitors while encouraging kid’s love of learning. The new exhibit and center strives to advocate learning through physical, exploratory, constructive, and imaginary play. Itty Bitty’s main goal is to engage with kids, and their families, as they journey through school towards becoming life-long learners. We crafted the identity for the program and used some insanely innovative targeting to drive awareness, and more importantly, attendance to the exhibit.
Woodlawn

Woodlawn Foundation is the lead organization or “community quarterback” of Woodlawn United – a comprehensive collaboration of partners committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in the Woodlawn community in Birmingham, Alabama. By working with residents and local stakeholders in the community, Woodlawn Foundation identifies needs within the neighborhoods and leverages resources to fill those gaps with high quality services and programs. Big partnered with Woodlawn to help raise awareness of their mission and to raise funds to help sustain revitalization efforts.
Homeward

The wealth and health of women can be the tipping point of a city. The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham finds poverty and funds community-changing initiatives that focus on women to help change systemic problems to move our city forward. Homeward provides information and positive inspiration to women who are looking to buy a home or who may be facing home ownership struggles. Its purpose is to provide endless resources and a wealth of support for women across multiple topics, such as finance, credit, real estate and investment trends, and DIY tips. We designed a user-friendly site to help aid in the process.
Cornerstone

And in the middle of the Woodlawn community is Cornerstone Schools of Alabama, a non-profit, faith-based schools for Birmingham’s inner-city students. Cornerstone Schools has about 450 kids through K4 to 12th grade. And as you can imagine for a non-profit, it gets challenging to consistently raise funds and keep donors energized. Big partnered with Cornerstone to create a campaign that went beyond the trifold. We wanted to inspire everyone who interacts with Cornerstone to illustrate its impact on our community and the lives of every single student. As a result of our collaborative efforts, they raised the most money ever for a fundraiser.
Uptown

It’s not every day that you get to name a whole new part of your town. But that is exactly the opportunity that was given to us on this project. City leaders and developers were planning a new entertainment district on the north side of town that was going to play a major role in revitalization efforts. A big part to making sure the project was a success was to get the community excited about it: meaning it couldn’t look, feel, smell, or sound like a tourist trap. The name and identity played a key role in helping make sure it was adopted by locals. The results were a seamless transition into local cultural vocabulary, while the vibe was on point with where the city was headed.