Alumnus builds marketing firm

For NDSU alumnus Brian Meckler, success is the sum of doing your homework plus the willingness to put in a lot of time and effort.

A 1998 graduate who majored in business administration, Meckler and a former co-worker launched the award-winning Absolute Marketing Group in Moorhead, Minn., in 2006. The fledgling company began with three employees and has grown to nine full-time workers. In only three years, the firm has received 35 ADDY Awards from the Advertising Federation of Fargo-Moorhead for creative advertising excellence.

Those accomplishments came because of careful preparation and a dedication to hard work.

“We really took an analytical approach,” Meckler explained, noting he took a long look at area competitors and potential clients before moving ahead with the new company. “We worked on a business plan for about nine months to do research and put everything together.”

When it became evident the potential for success was there, Meckler decided to leave the interactive media and display advertising position he held for five years at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead newspaper. He gave a 30-day notice, worked until his last day to train his successor, took a weekend off and opened the doors of the new company on a Monday.

“It was a leap of faith; I took a risk. Even if it didn’t work out, I felt it would still be a good learning experience,” he said. “For the most part, it’s worked out like we anticipated.”

Absolute Marketing Group, which works extensively with start-up businesses and smaller to midsized companies, currently has about 300 clients.

The growing company also takes pride in its commitment to training young people new to the industry. More than 30 students have interned at Absolute Marketing Group in the past three years, learning about writing, market research, design and Web projects.

“It’s a good opportunity for both sides – interns help us with certain tasks and they get real world experience,” Meckler said. “Most of our interns have had a pretty easy time finding jobs after they’re done here. We hired two of them, two more are at large ad agencies in Minneapolis and quite a few found work at The Forum.”

Meckler credits his education at NDSU for providing the knowledge to prepare him for business ownership. “At the time, class projects involving accounting or human resources didn’t seem like things I was going to do after I was done with school,” he said. “But, I found out there’s always a chance they can play a real strong role in the future. I definitely ended up making use of them.”

Meckler lives in Fargo.

Source: North Dakota State University Bison Briefs, Winter 2009-10