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Memphis gets more company - Childhood buddies want at least a slice - and not too thin, please - of the expanding public relations pie

Cathryn Stout, The Commercial Appeal

Rob Volmer remembers Andrew Crosby as the friendly guy with "the best hair" from their days at Presbyterian Day School.

Crosby remembers Volmer as the tall kid, "a walking toothpick," to be exact.

The duo, both 36, were friends in elementary school, but parted ways in middle school when Crosby went to Memphis University School and Volmer went to Christian Brothers High School.

But 12 years later, the lanky athlete and the dude with the head full of hair stumbled into each other on the streets of Washington, D.C.

"I see this tall guy get out of the car," Crosby said, remembering that day in 1995 when he learned that he and Volmer were both account executives for the St. Louis-based public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard Inc.

"We started talking and struck back up our friendship," said Crosby, who along with Volmer is now a principal of the public relations firm Crosby~Volmer International Communications.

The nine-year-old firm posted just over $3 million in revenue last year and has grown to 21 employees.

This month, the Washington, D.C.-based firm opened its fifth office, bringing its savvy for international marketing to Memphis.

With about 15 well-known public relations agencies firmly established in the city, gaining market share and recognition locally will be a challenge.

The marketing industry ebbs and flows, said carpenter sullivan sossaman president Donna Gordy, but over the past couple of years the tide has been more active.

"It seems to me that it's somewhat more dynamic than usual," said Gordy, adding that firms are moving to Memphis because the local economy, with its health care and shipping industries, rebounded quicker after Sept. 11 than tourism-centric economies.

"There's a lot of buzz going on all the time," Gordy said.

Advertising is a $200 billion business nationwide, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a private equity investment firm that specializes in media and communications companies.

In comparison, companies spent $3.3 billion on public relations in 2005, and the projection is $5.7 billion in spen ding by 2010.

"This is a small part of the overall pie, but it's growing faster than advertising," said Veronis Suhler Stevenson executive vice president Jim Rutherfurd. He said that online clutter, the transitioning state of newspapers and TiVo have made it hard for companies to reach their audiences, and public relations firms are filling that void.

Although many companies have in-house public relations managers, Rutherfurd said they also see the value in working with a firm with broader expertise.

"It's like companies having in-house lawyers, but they almost always work with an outside law firm, too," Rutherfurd said.

Rutherfurd said that in today's global economy, companies are looking for agencies with "their feet on the streets" overseas who can navigate customs, languages and time zones.

That's exactly where Crosby~Volmer International Communications hopes to find its niche.

With a growing list of clients - like U.S.-based SAS Games - an office in London and new offices soon in Seoul and Tokyo, Crosby~Volmer is optimistic about its chances here.

"Companies in Memphis that are growing beyond the local area are going to need help," Volmer said.

2008-05-17 21:15:09

© 2008 Crosby~Volmer International Communications