Workhorse wants ad clients willing to risk ?brave? ideas

Business Report Correspondent

BOULDER ? In the true pioneering spirit of the West, a band of four young men broke out of the corporate mold to form their own identity: brave, creative and hard working.

The foursome founded the advertising firm Workhorse in April 2000, taking their talent away from their former employer, Barnhart CMI Advertising and Public Relations in Denver. They already have snatched up some heavy-hitting clients, and based on the list, there is no particular market they are going after, although they prefer clients who have a willingness to be brave with ideas.

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A recent client, ViaWest, a Denver-based ISP, was willing to try something new. Rather than follow the mold of other “techie” firms, they took Workhorse’s advice.

“The message was customer service. They weren’t afraid to be the voice of customer outrage,´ said Scott Coe, 35, the oldest and most experienced with the strategic planning end of the business.

“And what makes it compelling is it’s the truth,´ said Matt Neren, 27, the youngest member who came from New York as a telecom analyst.

The campaign consisted of magazine ads, among other things, which were drawn by an artist and typographer to create the exact look.

Even though they have been on their own for a short seven months, Workhorse is not without clients. They have enough work to turn away potential clients.

“One of the grounding things we use to determine if we want to work with them is would we want to work there,´ said Tim Abare, 34, a University of Colorado graduate and creative member of the group.

Clients include netLibrary, ViaWest, C&C Yachts, Aspen Ski Co., Stick Oven and, on a pro-bono basis, Chautauqua. Collectively and separately, their work has included such innovative ad campaigns as the Red Gold Tomato Co. in the Midwest. In this campaign, the group convinced the company to paint its silo to look like a huge can of tomatoes. Without spending much money, the company was able to create a recognizable brand that is permanently on display on its property along the highway.

In Indianapolis, an optometrist requested a billboard, which turned into a huge pair of groovy glasses made out of junk collected from the area. It was so huge, the eyes were

made from full canoes. “It transcends the medium to become a cultural landmark,” Abare said.

Workhorse is doing its part to turn its office into a landmark. Adhering to the practice what you preach adage, the partners have taken pains to create an image befitting of their name.

The name Workhorse should evoke images of an era long gone, one in which people rolled up their sleeves, got dirty and worked hard, Scott said.

To achieve this effect, the office at 17th and Walnut streets, a rented house next door to the Boulder Energy Conservation Consortium, is adorned with field equipment. The fourth partner, Chris Beatty, 34, another creative element, searched high and low in architectural antique stores to find just the right pieces.

The light fixtures are made of till disks from an old horse-drawn till, and one desk is constructed of a horse trough base with a wood top. Antique school slate boards (not white boards) hang on the wall for brainstorming sessions, and the light fixture in the bathroom is a green Mason pickling jar. A tractor seat has been transformed into a modern backless chair. Back to the future: There are neon G4s, DSL and groovy design software to match their modern

ideas.

Abare’s father called the office “an adult playground.” The details were very important when the partners designed the workspace, and the same attention to detail goes into their ads.

An ad for netLibrary, the e-book specialist, was to target the traditional book population ? one that may be hesitant about electronic books. Workhorse created the ad to resemble pages from a book, down to having the ads letter-pressed and the illustrations etched by hand on a block. They wanted authenticity.

The cost for these details is not cheap. “We are a small shop, but a very focused firm ? not inexpensive. But you get the whole company focused on your problem,” Coe said.

Workhorse is on track to bill $1.2 million to $1.3 million in 2000; although

the firm’s year was just eight months. “We got up and busy real quick,” Abare said. “We haven’t locked horns with anyone ? maybe that’s the economy.”

According to Robert J. Coen, senior vice president of forecasting at McCann-Erickson Worldwide, the advertising industry is expected to grow by 9.4 percent to $235.6 billion.