Egotist For The Day: Helping Portland Suck Less

By / March 4, 2009 /

By AdPulp’s David Burn

First of all, Portland doesn’t suck. Far from it. It’s a fertile place where ideas grow wild like flowers in a meadow.

Of course, one could say the same about Denver. Denver doesn’t suck either. It’s a magnet for creative people who love the outdoors. There are decent clients and a growing agency scene on the verge of establishing a national reputation. And it’s a relatively affordable, distinctly pleasant place to live.

Yet, it’s not hard to see that Denver and Portland, along with Austin and a few other cities, clearly exist on the fringes of the industry. Maybe there’s an outstanding agency that towers over the city, but from there it’s a steep slide to the minors, where regional banks are the best clients. That Crispin has this pole position on the Front Range is unnatural and maybe even unkind. Whereas Wieden + Kennedy’s omnipresence in Portland is a direct result of Portland. Without Portland’s unique climate (and Nike), there would be no Wieden + Kennedy.

While puddle jumpers can bask in the intense light of W+K, one global bad ass does not the city’s creative composition make. What’s the rest of the field look like? Where else is there to work? Which Portland agencies are ripe for the picking? That last question is not rhetorical—I recently had an agency head in San Francisco ask me which small Portland agency might be worth acquiring.

Okay, lets toss some proper nouns around: Grady Britton, North, HMH, ID Branding, Citrus, Leopold Ketel & Partners, Borders Perrin & Norrander.

Borders is a slightly bigger fish, of course. But not as big as it was when Columbia Sportswear was their marquis account. Columbia, a native client, has since moved its business to Marin County’s finest—Butler Shine & Stern. Ultimately, that’s the test of a city’s agency structure. Can it retain the best local accounts? That’s true for Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Miami and just about every major market. Wieden’s relationship with Nike is the premier example in Portland of what happens when local companies stick together and grow together. BP&N and Columbia was until recently another great example.

When it comes to client opportunities, Portland is a big sportswear city. Jantzen is here. So is Columbia, Adidas, Nike, Pendelton, Keen and Nau. These clients create lots of work for Portland’s design shops and interactive shops like Nemo Design, PMSI, The New Group, White Horse and Pop Art. Again, it’s Portland clients working with Portland designers. Naturally, the agencies here reach far beyond the Pacific Northwest for business, but the base is here to build something solid.

Last December, Jerry Ketel, President of Leopold Ketel & Partners, mentioned to me how Portland is a city of craftsmen, that it always has been and continues to be. Ketel clearly means to include people who make branded communications in this group. And it’s the perfect lens with which to view Portland, as is the pioneer lens. Creative people in Portland express themselves in kitchens, behind bars, on stage, in classrooms, at the farmer’s market, etc. There’s immense respect for doing things the right way here. Combine that with the pioneering spirit in the people—just as present today as it was 150 years ago when the state of Oregon was conceived—and you have the ingredients for greatness.