Avocet Communications branches to Web

LONGMONT – Avocet Communications is running like the shore bird for which it’s named.

The full-service advertising and marketing firm has grown substantially since it began 18 years ago, increasing its overall volume every year, said Lori Sutorius, company president. “I think Avocet is going through a tremendous time period right now,” she said.

Avocet has clients not only in Colorado, but throughout the nation. Its clients are mostly technological or recreational in nature. Pentax, AT&T Business Services and ICX International, to name a few, are in the Denver Technological Center area.

In Longmont, Avocet works with North Pass, an outdoor products company that has been with them for about six years. “We get a very positive response from the ads,´ said Pamela Gunter, vice president of marketing and sales for North Pass. “They’ve got the ideas and just roll with it.”

Avocet also works with Pratt Management Co. LLC, a Longmont commercial Realtor and development company. Its most recent project was the Whetstone Steakhouse, for which Avocet did the identity development for the new Longmont restaurant’s opening.

Manufacturing companies, such as Longmont-based Seedex Inc. and American Precision Plastics, contract with Avocet, and other businesses, including the Colorado Department of Transportation, Resort Rent-A-Car, Icon Foods and the Apex Center, Arvada’s new recreation facility.

Sutorius emphasized that everyone at Avocet is first and foremost a strategist. “We don’t make knee-jerk reactions here,” she said. “We take a hard look at the marketplace — your competition, the perception of you in the marketplace, how you perceive yourself. We really study and strategize before every program that we implement.”

Avocet’s slogan is, “Advertising that makes a sound.” The company dedicates itself to creating ads that are going to stand out and be recognizable.

For about seven years, Avocet has been marketing communications for the youth anti-drug program D.A.R.E. on a pro-bono basis. “We have to give back to the community, and this is one way we can give back,” Sutorius said.

Avocet gets its name from Sutorius’ father Kit, who started the company. Kit chose the name because he loves the bird.

Today, Sutorius and Kit own Avocet jointly. Sutorius’ brother Chris is the production manager, and her mother, Bea Hultgren, is the strategic services director.

It hasn’t been too difficult to separate work and family, Sutorius said. “One of the reasons we work so well together is that we all have our individual disciplines within the company, and we all have our individual area of expertise,” she said. “And we were all able to gain expertise outside the company first.”

Chris was advertising director for Albertson’s, and Bea was vice president of marketing for Kare International, a vitamin supplement company. “They brought experience and expertise to the company, and they were hired because of that, not because they were a family member,”

Sutorius said.

Sutorius, who has worked at Avocet for 10 years, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the company herself. A graduate of Colorado State University, she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism with an emphasis on advertising. She was an account manager at Colorado State Magazine before coming to Avocet. She also has served on the board of directors of the Business Marketing Association (BMA) and the board of the D.A.R.E. program. She was also a chairwoman for D.A.R.E.

Avocet started in Longmont, and Sutorius said it is a good location. “Most of our clients are in Denver, and they love coming up,” she said. “It’s away from the hustle and bustle and traffic jams, and people yelling and screaming at each other.”

Avocet has an in-house photography studio where it does all client photographs. Sutorius said it is unusual for an advertising agency, especially one the size of Avocet, to have such a studio on-site.

Avocet also has a Web site at www.avocetcomm.com that provides background information about the company and some of the campaigns that Avocet has developed.

In addition to the company Web site, Avocet has a password protected site that clients can visit to get a status report or approve any given project. Seventy-five percent of Avocet’s day-to-day business is approved online, according to Sutorius.

The firm is starting a new division called Avocet Interactive that is expected to launch by the end of September. Avocet Interactive will be an online agency that develops Web sites and online and off-line campaigns for dot-com businesses and others that need a strong

online presence. “Technology is driving the future, and if you’re not on board, then you’re going to be left behind,” Sutorius said. “Avocet Interactive is establishing the future of Avocet Communications.”

Avocet Interactive’s first client will be estreetrealty.com, a password-protected site. Everyone at Avocet has been working hard to put Avocet Interactive together, Sutorius said. “We’ve got our business plan put together and our marketing communications plan developed,” she said. “All we’re doing right now is implementing the plan.”

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