Today we’d like to introduce you to Duke Greenhill.
Duke, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Jennifer Henderson (née Oliver, hence the J.O.) founded the agency nearly 20 years ago in 1998. J.O. began as a boutique graphic design shop that quickly grew into a full-service marketing and PR firm serving regional and global clients. J.O. specializes in business transformation through branding and brand strategy, campaign creative and campaign strategy, exceptional graphic design, and public relations. With extraordinary nimbleness and an eye toward customized client service, creative, and strategic solutions, J.O. tells brand stories that emotionally connect with target audiences to inspire desired actions, opinions, and change. Recently, J.O. launched its nonprofit arm, The Cause Agency, to give back to the community by offering qualified nonprofits deeply discounted marketing and PR services.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No road worth walking is smooth all the way. The primary challenge has been, simply put, growing pains. In the last couple years, J.O. has grown more than in the 18 years past, and demand for J.O. threatened to outpace our ability to supply prospects with the brands, campaigns and strategic communications they needed. We have recently hired several key positions, refreshed internal operating procedures, and refocused our strengths as an agency. We’ve now found a great balance between demand and supply, art and commerce, our desire to help organizations and our necessary exclusivity.
J.O. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
J.O. specializes in business transformation through branding and brand strategy, campaign creative and campaign strategy, exceptional graphic design, and public relations.
In short, we tell brand stories that emotionally connect with target audiences to inspire desired actions, opinions, and change.
But we’re not “marketing people.” That’s what we’re most proud of. We’re artists, trailblazers, strategists, adventure addicts, filmmakers, people-watchers, writers, humanitarians, yogis, and tech- lovers. We’re a band of whole-brain thinkers connecting dots other people can’t or won’t. We’re not “ad makers” or “publicists.” We’re communicators, relationship-builders. We join people to brands with bonds of emotion. We don’t bring customers. We bring brand zealots. We’re people who co-conspire with clients to make the most splashy, intriguing, outrageously unexpected workaround. We don’t just make marketing. We make moJ.O.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I came on as VP, Creative and Strategy at J.O. about two years ago, after almost two decades of prestigious work in D.C. and New York for agencies big and small, and for clients like MasterCard, Tiffany & Co., L’Oreal, the Government of Monaco, two U.S. presidential 527 election campaigns, and others. My proudest moment is not a moment at all, but rather the growth I’ve been a part of creating here at J.O. over the last few years. It makes me proud to have (at least partially) shown that you don’t have to be on Madison Avenue to do killer work. You can be anywhere from Boulder (thank you CP+B) to Fort Worth.
Contact Info:
- Address: 440 South Main St
Fort Worth, TX 76104 - Phone: 817.335.0100
- Email: howdy@jodesign.com
Image credit:
Alyssa Grace – www.alyssagracephotography.com
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