For more than 20 years, Gunn Media has been providing branding expertise to clients. Originally started in Canada by Shawn Rivers, a former defenseman for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the agency opened a second location in Tampa, FL in March 2020.
“It’s every business owner’s dream to open a new location during a pandemic,” laughed Rivers. “While we had expected to do a lot more face-to-face engagement to entrench ourselves in the community, we’ve still been quite pleased with the clients we’ve gained, and are very encouraged about what our future holds in the state.”
Rivers’ father worked in the branding industry, and he grew up putting together trophies and plaques, and working on silkscreen, embroidery and laser-engraved products. After playing professional hockey for nine years, he returned to his roots, and has since moved the company from products used mainly at events and trade shows to ad specialties and corporate clothing.
“As we’ve evolved over the years, we’ve added a lot more products, talent and employees,” he said.
When Janet Perkins, who worked at the company for 13 years, moved with her family to Florida, Rivers saw it as a natural progression of his business. Perkins now oversees the Florida office.
Having been in the business for so many years, the team knows the importance of branding and how to help clients stand out.
“Our entire business model is set up around working with clients who view marketing and brand awareness as top-of-mind for them growing their business,” said Rivers. “Branding carries a lot of weight and credibility; look at the success of companies like Reebok and Nike.
“We help our clients determine how to best integrate into the market to reach their demographic, whether that’s their own client base or their employees,” he added. “That’s where we really shine.”
“We ask a lot of questions about who they are and how they want to be perceived by the end-user,” added Perkins of their process. “We have access to hundreds of thousands of different products, so we use this knowledge to whittle it down.”
As times have changed, so have the types of services that clients expect. “One area that has evolved over the years is design,” said Rivers. “We’ve come across plenty of our clients who have nothing but a name and some clip art that cousin Johnny did for them, which is impossible to work with. We have three full-time designers on staff to help; even if clients are starting from scratch, we can get them into the game.”
He adds that quality counts, which is why it’s important for clients to invest their money well.
“It’s better to do fewer products that are more poignant and are of higher quality,” he said. “Instead of spending $10,000 on 10,000 cheap pens, they might want to target more strategic clients with a better product; something they won’t just throw in the garbage.”
Some of the most-demand items are focused on technology, even with people working from home. “The demand is greater than ever for phone chargers and adapters, phone lights for Zoom calls and even mugs that plug into the computer to keep your coffee warm,” said Rivers, adding that his favorite is a device that covers the camera on a laptop so that workers can control the narrative on Zoom calls.While companies are used to branding for clients, one area that is often overlooked is branding for employees.
“Now that people aren’t in the office, it’s important to boost morale to keep employees engaged,” said Perkins. “Our clients are requesting more of an ‘experience’ for their employees; for example, something that comes in a kit that they can unbox during a Zoom meeting.”
Instead of hosting a large Christmas party, for example, companies are using those budgets to provide appreciation gifts.
“These work so much better than just an email, especially if the CEO or manager includes a personal note,” Perkins added. “It’s nice for employees who are working from home to realize that everyone is in the same situation and that they are appreciated; it really brings the corporate culture home.”
To this end, Gunn Media has expanded into the logistics arena. “Where clients used to accept orders in their shipping departments, now they prefer that we individually box and send these gifts to clients and employees, which means we’re putting more thought into packaging, costs and logistics than before,” said Rivers.
The company is excited about all of the opportunities it sees in Florida, working with everyone from healthcare practices to the cannabis industry. “While we’re relatively new to the area, we’ve been doing this for a long time, and we’re excited to share our experience,” said Rivers.
