The September/October issue of D CEO showcases John and Lisa in a story about a recent account win.
Read the article at D Magazine.com by clicking here.

San Francisco Hardwood Flooring Manufacturer Hires Rizzuti/Austin for Major Push in Dallas.
 
Struxtur, Inc. based in South San Francisco, CA., after carefully interviewing various Dallas agencies, picked Rizzuti/Austin Marketing Group to launch its new line of Italian hardwood flooring, called "Bella Cera" into the Dallas marketplace. If the push is successful, the efforts will be expanded to several other markets. The agency was hired for multiple reasons; media planning and buying, creative acumen, including direct response advertising, but most of all because we were the perfect choice for them.

Sometimes excellent creative ideas come from simple conversations. Dallas Baptist University Director of Marketing Layna Evans in conference with Rizzuti/Austin Marketing Group (RAM) partners John Rizzuti and Lisa Austin discussed her strategic plan to highlight DBU graduates in the school’s new multi-media advertising campaign.

John asked Ms. Evans if she had a list of outstanding alumni nearby. She did, and BAM! John saw in an instant that both the Dallas and the Ft. Worth Fire Chiefs are DBU alumni.

Thus, the campaign was born, “Before they were Chiefs, they were Patriots.” (DBU’s mascot is the Patriot) Both print ads (shot by the highly-regarded California-based photographer Baqi Kopleman) and radio spots were written and produced within three weeks. The campaign was alive, and results began to pour in. The campaign receives rave reviews everywhere.

The entire integrated drive was based on a simple client/agency conversation (and relationship). Additional alumni campaigns, including one showcasing Super Bowl-winning Quarterback and DBU graduate Tommy Maddox and his wife Jennifer have been recently added.

Let’s make this short and sweet. Rizzuti/Austin marketing and PR wizards escorted start-up client, “Open A Circle.com” to the prestigious “DEMOfall 08” Conference in San Diego. John Rizzuti and Kenni Driver worked the media as if their lives were hanging in the balance. The result was an avalanche of stories all over America and all around the world about this new technology. (www.openacircle.com).

But the big news was working tightly with the client CEO, the agency was able to help engineer an amazing story making the client “Best of Show.” (out of 76 clients attending) If you know DEMO, then you know exactly how difficult this feat is. Of course, we give all the credit to our client!

It is the biggest single project in the storied history of RAM. Due to nondisclosures, the agency is not permitted to release any additional specifics, except to say that a multi-media, multi-million dollar campaign for a blue-chip, Fortune 500® company was executed by the RAM media team, headed by Lisa Austin.

The client received a $4.2 million dollar plan for less than $1.5 million dollars! In addition, the agency team was able to secure over $250,000 worth of valuable merchandising to support and enhance the campaign.

The agency also handled the target audience segmentation model, and the overall advertising strategy for this blitz. The campaign will run in early 2009.

Dallas Baptist University has agreed to another new contract with Rizzuti/Austin Marketing Group for year number seven! The agency handles the entire advertising account and has now added “public relations” and key strategic marketing consulting to the mix of agency services.

DBU marketing honcho Layna Evans told John and Lisa that she continues to be very pleased with the results the agency brings to the table. In addition, she tells us that our client service is superb as well as our agency pricing. For interested new prospective clients who wish, Layna would be pleased to share her many years of working with Rizzuti/Austin. Contact John for details.

Great news continues to stream into the virtual offices of Rizzuti/Austin Marketing Group!

(See above entry of 12.01.08) Early in 2009, the agency executed a multi-million dollar media buy for a non-disclosed Fortune 500® company. Today, the agency was informed by a client executive that the follow-on research study of the Jan-March campaign was just completed.

The study aimed at examining the creative (done by another agency) and the media buy. To make a short story long, the client told John that according to the sophisticated research, the media buy was (his words) “flawless.”

The agency purchased print, online and outdoor adverting and nailed the buy perfectly, again according to the research study. Details can only be furnished by John on a “need-to-know” basis.

Call for details.