Passion at RED
Female-run shop puts emotion into the men’s world of sports marketing
Originally printed in Marketing Magazine
By Norma Ramage
Agencies founded and run by women still aren’t all that common on the Canadian agency landscape. And when that agency owes much of its success to sports marketing and advertising, it attracts second glances.
That’s the case at Edmonton’s Red agency, owned by partners Monique Fikar and Lori Billey. The agency’s first client when it opened its doors in 2001 was the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, and current sporting clients-which comprise 30% of Red’s business-include the NHL’s Calgary Flames and the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos. Red is also on the list in the logo design competition for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and worked on last year’s outdoor Molson Heritage Classic hockey game.
“Sports are still stereotyped as a man’s world,” says Billey, who is Red’s chief creative officer. “Being women, we just had to work a lot harder.”
Fikar, who is Red’s CEO, says the partners took the emotion and passion involved in sports marketing and applied it to more conventional products and services, moving beyond sports to build a varied client list that includes the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, Allied Van Lines Canada, North American Van Lines, Stuart Olson Construction, forestry products company Weldwood of Canada and Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan College.
The strategy has resulted in phenomenal growth for the three-year-old agency, which now has 15 employees and annual revenues of $20 million. It recently snagged 12th spot on Alberta Venture magazine’s list of the province’s fastest growing companies. Fikar and Billey were also nominated for the 2004 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Asked the reason for Red’s success, Fikar replies with one word: talent. There are no juniors on Red’s roster, only senior creatives, most of whom-like Fikar and Billey-have 15 or more years in the advertising business. “We differentiate ourselves by emphasizing the seniority of our people,” says Fikar. “Our clients respond very well to our flatter management structure and being provided direct access to senior people.”
Fikar also credits teamwork for the agency’s success, both between herself and Billey and among all the staff members. “In many respects, Lori and I approach our relationship like a marriage. We complement each other. My approach is more analytical and strategic, while Lori balances that out by being more creative.”
The two women, who had both worked for Edmonton agencies, found themselves working together on several projects, liked the relationship, and decided to start their own agency. They shared a common interest in sports-Billey is a skater and certified hockey referee, Fikar is a marathon runner whose first marketing job was with the Eskimos-and it seemed natural to pursue sports clients.
Allan Watts, the Oilers’ vice-president of marketing and communications, says Red was exactly what his team was looking for three years ago, a “nimble” boutique agency “that would provide absolute value for the dollar.” The team has stayed with Red as it has grown says Watt, “because both Monique and Lori have made a study of the sports business. We appreciate them learning about our business, but still being able to bring a fresh voice.”
Although pleased with Red’s rapid growth, Fikar and Billey aren’t resting on their laurels. They already have a national client (Allied Van Lines) and a North American client (North American Van Lines), and they’re eager to add more. The partners don’t see Red as an Edmonton agency, but a “great agency” that happens to be based in the northern Alberta city.
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