Anything But Narrow Thinking

When Paul Wannenmacher hung his advertising agency sign 25 years ago, a sole concern weighed on his mind.

“About the only fear I had was the fear of getting bored,” Wannenmacher recalls.

It evidently was a nonissue. Today, Wannanmacher Advertising has earned a spot as one of Springfield’s go-to – as well as diverse – advertising agencies.

Springfield was a much different place during Wannanmacher Advertising’s infancy.

In 1985, Wannanmacher, an Evangel University graduate, walked away from an $11 million advertising budget he was managing in Detroit for McDonald’s to return home and start his own business. Then, few businesses would even consider downtown Springfield. But with three primary clients in hand – Springfield Lincoln-Mercury, Midwest Lincoln-Mercury and Mulhollan Furniture – Wannenmacher decided Walnut Street was the spot to launch his agency.

Three years later, the company outgrew its facility but didn’t stray too far from its roots in a move. After a great deal of renovation work, Wannenmacher shuffled his office to the building next door, 211 E. Walnut St., where it is located today.

Integration rules
During his career, Wannenmacher has seen ever-increasing technology bring the industry from strictly print and television to the age of social media, complete with blogs, and Facebook and Twitter posts.

“You need to integrate everything together,” Wannenmacher says of the complexities in advertising today.

He’s also learned that successful advertising isn’t just conveying a message. It’s also about what’s behind it.

“Individuals are different, and we’ve got to not only allow, but we’ve got to respect, those differences,” Wannenmacher says. “The creative needs to follow the style of the client, and it’s our responsibility not to get stuck in narrow thinking.”

Wannenmacher’s philosophy involves four core principles: leadership, creativity, service and value. They’re qualities that he feels best represent his company and the standards he strives to meet for each client that comes in the door.

“Are we curious enough about the industry to start asking questions that go beyond what common belief might be?” asks Wannenmacher. “That’s how I evaluate what we do, and that’s how I hope clients evaluate us.”

Clients include Hammons Black Walnut Products, Forest Institute of Professional Psychology, Incredible Pizza Co., StoneBridge Village and Rib Crib. A current project is a Civil War documentary that Wannenmacher himself is writing and producing for Ozarks Public Television. The Sept. 30, 1862, Battle of Newtonia is the focus of this production – Wannenmacher’s third for OPT, after Thomas Hart Benton and Charles Banks Wilson documentaries – and it is scheduled to be complete in November.

With a wide variety of clients and services, there’s no doubt that Wannenmacher has the ability to multitask. Another one of those hats he wears is as publisher of Big Sports, a bimonthly magazine.

According to Tom Mast, the magazine’s editor who has worked in account services at Wannenmacher Advertising for a decade, the magazine displays the company’s ability to stand out from the crowd.

“Ad agencies just don’t do things like that,” Mast says. “It’s another way of keeping us connected to the community. It’s one of the fun things we get to do.”

The publication is free and is available online and at a variety of area locations including nearly every McDonald’s in Greene, Christian, Polk and Webster counties.

Lumps and innovations
Despite the success that Wannenmacher has celebrated over the years, the company has not been able to avoid ill effects from current economic conditions.

“Our company, like any other company, has taken some lumps in this economy; it’s just part of business,” Wannenmacher says, declining to disclose revenues.

In response, Wannenmacher is expanding and adapting his firm. Headed by Media Specialist Jim Walton, the agency now performs information technology services to Wannenmacher’s clients as well as other businesses that simply have computer questions.

“Our goal is to kind of be a total solution … when it comes to technology and online services,” Walton says. “A lot of small business can’t afford having a computer guy, so to speak, so we want to offer that service as well.”

Wannenmacher might be on to something. IT jobs are currently among the top three in-demand occupations in the region, according to Ozarks Technical Community College’s Workforce Development Director Dawn Busick.

For small businesses, that service might translate into simply setting up a new computer system or installing a server.

“A company like mine can’t pick the environment,” Wannenmacher says, noting that his experience allows him to take it with a grain of salt. “But we certainly can choose our response to that business environment.”[[In-content Ad]]