Falls on the rise
New digs, name in step with outfit’s addition of advertising, creative work
By JOHN BOOTH
4:30 am, January 5, 2009
Sure, Falls Communications has a shorter name and a shiny new office to go with the calendar flip, but even in a tough economy, the public relations firm has big plans for 2009.
The company, founded in 1996 as Robert Falls & Co. Public Relations, will be looking to push itself in more ways than one.
“We’re putting together a pretty aggressive marketing plan,” president Robert Falls said. “(And) it’s our intention to be hiring.”
The 30-employee agency in mid-2008 moved from its Landmark Office Towers space to 16,500 square feet on the 24th and 25th floors of the Terminal Tower. The name change came not only with the territory, but also with the expansion of services into more advertising and creative work for the firm known for its new product launches and other traditional PR efforts.
By way of example, look no further than its work launching a new, high-capacity blender for Vita-Mix of Olmsted Falls.
Inspired by a Vita-Mix print ad created by Cleveland’s Melamed Riley Advertising, Falls took the notion of an awestruck, fearful banana and ran with it, creating a comic book and video turning the blender into a sort of plug-in Godzilla of the produce world.
“We wanted to catch people’s attention,” said Tony Ciepiel, vice president of Vita-Mix’s commercial division. “Historically, we’ve been more traditional. We wanted this new product announcement to get noticed.”
Falls also is coming off a big showing at the annual awards for the Cleveland chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, with the agency’s 18 overall awards leading the pack and capturing Best of Show honors for its work promoting Moen’s “Biomimicry” designs of plumbing fixtures.
The firm is looking at between 2% and 5% revenue growth for 2008, down from 35% growth in 2007. Still, Mr. Falls said the firm has added work from existing clients as they trim ad budgets but shift some of their money and project work to Falls.
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