AdBuilders opens in Cedar Lake Office Park

AdBuilders, an advertising and marketing company, opened for business Nov. 1 in the Cedar Lake Office Park, 4411 E. State Hwy. D, Ste. H near Turners Station.

According to owner and General Manager Brent Atterberry, the company's main focus is regional and national marketing for the home improvement industry.

Atterberry said there is a growing need for marketing in the home improvement industry.

"Some of the home improvement companies that are out there, whether they're individual dealers or they are manufacturers, have a general marketing concept, but they don't have a comprehensive marketing program that supports their dealer networks," he said.

"Most of your home improvement dealers know how to install a window ... but they do not know how to get the consumer to buy it from them ... it's a very niche market," Atterberry added.

Atterberry's staff consists of Stacy Boysen-Krauck, Mitzi Lorenz and Kim Claybrook. The four previously worked for Republic Media Group Inc., which opened nearly two years ago in the Plaza Towers and is owned by Ginger Carpenter.

Atterberry said working for himself is something he wanted to do for a long time.

"I have always wanted to own my own business and be self-employed, and I had an opportunity to do that," he said.

"In the service industry, the No. 1 asset that you have is people, and I had an opportunity to have a select group of people work with me to form a team of advertising professionals that, in my opinion, is very strong," Atterberry added.

He said present trends in the home improvement industry also factored into his decision.

"We had seen some opportunities, because of the amazing growth that this industry is experiencing, with home sales and remodeling at an all-time high for this year, there are more and more marketing opportunities out there for the home improvement industry," Atterberry said.

AdBuilders does have some local clients, and Atterberry said that his company's work at the national and regional levels will benefit local clients as well.

"A lot of it will apply here as far as ideas. What works in Orlando, Fla., might not work in Springfield, but the ideas and concepts can be brought here and possibly tweaked to someone else's advantage," he said.

"Anyone that we work with locally will gain the benefits of our national research, of our contacts, networking and communication with all of the dealers we work with throughout the country," Atterberry added.

Atterberry said Boysen-Krauck is the company's operations manager, and is responsible for receivables, payables, human resources and account services. Lorenz's responsibilities include all local research, media buying and account service. Claybrook, he said, is responsible for national research, media negotiation and placement.

Atterberry said AdBuilders provides "good old-fashioned service" for clients.

"It's as simple as returning a phone call and following through on what you say you're going to do," he said.

Another difference between AdBuilders and its competitors, he said, is that AdBuilders focuses on results for clients.

"It's not as important to us to design an award-winning piece as it is to get the client results," he said.

In the next year, Atterberry hopes to add a local account executive to the AdBuilders staff, and to expand the company's creative services, not only in terms of graphics, but also on the Web.