May 1, 2006
Pushing responsiblity | A chat with Steve Darnley, founder of Tugboat Creative in Portland.
By Whit Richardson
Founded: August 2005
Employees: One full-time, two freelancers
Startup costs: $5,000
Projected revenue, year one: $35,000
Projected revenue, year two: $70,000
Contact: 899-3720
P.O. Box 7882, Portland 04112
www.tugboatcreative.com
Tell me about Tugboat Creative.
The idea is a marketing agency for the sustainable economy ˆ that's the model we're working on. Basically, my goal is to create a marketing agency that works exclusively with socially and environmentally responsible businesses and nonprofits. We're pretty strict in who qualifies to be a client; they have to actually demonstrate somewhere in their company's mission and goals that they basically have a multiple bottom line of profit as well as environmental sustainability and social justice.
That strategy cuts down your potential clientele. Has that made it more difficult to find companies to work with?
Definitely, cultivating that client base is a little bit of a struggle. I think we're in a pretty good spot in New England. Vermont has tons of possibilities, but of course we're not there. But in Maine we're doing okay. GrandyOats [in Brownfield] and Coffee by Design [in Portland] were our first two big clients, and they are both basically our model clients. So, it has been basically networking through them that we've been able to meet and find a few other small companies that are working their way up, and which we're a perfect fit for because we're tiny ourselves and don't have the resources or capacity to handle much.
How many clients do you have now?
I would say a good solid five.
How is marketing a company with a "multiple bottom line" different then marketing a traditional company?
We commit to being incredibly honest and transparent. Transparency is one of the big things ˆ just being very forthright with the company's values, with their intentions, their mission, their mistakes. Traditionally, the job of marketing is to promote a brand at any cost. Whereas rather than just making a profit, just like our clients, we're working to include the environment and society however we can.
When did you come up with the idea for the company?
I officially decided I was going to do it three-and-a-half years ago. I've always been curious about it. I would say about 10 years ago I discovered Adbusters magazine, a kind of anti-consumerism journal. It appealed to me because I was really intrigued and interested in advertising. I went to school for it, but never felt good about facilitating consumerism and always kind of wondered how I could do this differently. How could I work in marketing and sleep at night?
Do you consider traditional marketing agencies competitors?
No. I sort of did in the beginning, except when we started meeting with potential clients. They weren't even considering anyone else, they were in just based on our mission alone. I didn't even have to show them a portfolio, they were like, "Okay, when do we start?" I was amazed at how important it was to some of our clients that they work with like-minded people.
How do you market your own business?
We've done a couple of rounds of direct postcards, basically cultivating a list of about 200 companies in northern New England and Massachusetts that we felt were probably good matches for us. This year we did three drops of a postcard that was printed on handmade paper that had wildflower seeds embedded in it. It was all sustainably made and there were no chemicals involved. And they could actually take the postcard and plant it and it will grow flowers. So, we felt that it was the perfect vehicle ˆ that we could send out this junk mail and even if it just gets thrown away, it's going to grow flowers.
What are your plans for growth?
Basically, to keep on keeping on. My goal is to have it not be enormous. My vision is to have a small office with a handful of employees working with contractors primarily within the next two to five years, that's sort of the plan.
Do you really like tugboats? Or did the name come from somewhere else?
Well, because we're in Portland and on the harbor you see tugboats all the time. Tugboat is a really strong brand, really sticks out phonetically. We were kind of playing with tag lines and I came up with, "A small entity moving big ideas," and I said, "Wow! This really fits and it really kind of sticks out."
New Entrepreneurs profiles young businesses,6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to wrichardson@mainebiz.biz.
Employees: One full-time, two freelancers
Startup costs: $5,000
Projected revenue, year one: $35,000
Projected revenue, year two: $70,000
Contact: 899-3720
P.O. Box 7882, Portland 04112
www.tugboatcreative.com
Tell me about Tugboat Creative.
The idea is a marketing agency for the sustainable economy ˆ that's the model we're working on. Basically, my goal is to create a marketing agency that works exclusively with socially and environmentally responsible businesses and nonprofits. We're pretty strict in who qualifies to be a client; they have to actually demonstrate somewhere in their company's mission and goals that they basically have a multiple bottom line of profit as well as environmental sustainability and social justice.
That strategy cuts down your potential clientele. Has that made it more difficult to find companies to work with?
Definitely, cultivating that client base is a little bit of a struggle. I think we're in a pretty good spot in New England. Vermont has tons of possibilities, but of course we're not there. But in Maine we're doing okay. GrandyOats [in Brownfield] and Coffee by Design [in Portland] were our first two big clients, and they are both basically our model clients. So, it has been basically networking through them that we've been able to meet and find a few other small companies that are working their way up, and which we're a perfect fit for because we're tiny ourselves and don't have the resources or capacity to handle much.
How many clients do you have now?
I would say a good solid five.
How is marketing a company with a "multiple bottom line" different then marketing a traditional company?
We commit to being incredibly honest and transparent. Transparency is one of the big things ˆ just being very forthright with the company's values, with their intentions, their mission, their mistakes. Traditionally, the job of marketing is to promote a brand at any cost. Whereas rather than just making a profit, just like our clients, we're working to include the environment and society however we can.
When did you come up with the idea for the company?
I officially decided I was going to do it three-and-a-half years ago. I've always been curious about it. I would say about 10 years ago I discovered Adbusters magazine, a kind of anti-consumerism journal. It appealed to me because I was really intrigued and interested in advertising. I went to school for it, but never felt good about facilitating consumerism and always kind of wondered how I could do this differently. How could I work in marketing and sleep at night?
Do you consider traditional marketing agencies competitors?
No. I sort of did in the beginning, except when we started meeting with potential clients. They weren't even considering anyone else, they were in just based on our mission alone. I didn't even have to show them a portfolio, they were like, "Okay, when do we start?" I was amazed at how important it was to some of our clients that they work with like-minded people.
How do you market your own business?
We've done a couple of rounds of direct postcards, basically cultivating a list of about 200 companies in northern New England and Massachusetts that we felt were probably good matches for us. This year we did three drops of a postcard that was printed on handmade paper that had wildflower seeds embedded in it. It was all sustainably made and there were no chemicals involved. And they could actually take the postcard and plant it and it will grow flowers. So, we felt that it was the perfect vehicle ˆ that we could send out this junk mail and even if it just gets thrown away, it's going to grow flowers.
What are your plans for growth?
Basically, to keep on keeping on. My goal is to have it not be enormous. My vision is to have a small office with a handful of employees working with contractors primarily within the next two to five years, that's sort of the plan.
Do you really like tugboats? Or did the name come from somewhere else?
Well, because we're in Portland and on the harbor you see tugboats all the time. Tugboat is a really strong brand, really sticks out phonetically. We were kind of playing with tag lines and I came up with, "A small entity moving big ideas," and I said, "Wow! This really fits and it really kind of sticks out."
New Entrepreneurs profiles young businesses,6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to wrichardson@mainebiz.biz.
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