Wannenmacher stirs creative juices for 20 years

One recent Friday morning, Paul Wannenmacher put on his creative cap, scrawled a print ad and recorded a radio spot for two clients.
The following Tuesday, he traveled to St. Louis and edited a radio piece for another client.
That’s all in a week’s work for Wannenmacher Advertising Co.’s president and founder.
“I get involved in a lot of different aspects,” said Wannenmacher, who leads a 10-person advertising shop. “If everybody else around here is going to have fun, why shouldn’t I?”
The fun began 20 years ago.
In 1985, the Evangel University grad walked away from an $11 million advertising budget he was managing in Detroit for McDonald’s to come back home and start his own business. Wannenmacher’s kids were beginning school, and he decided it was the right time to gain stability for the family.
“I’ve often joked that to get stability, I took the biggest risk of my life,” Wannenmacher said.
Wannenmacher parlayed 10 years of experience working in advertising for other companies into his own downtown office at 209 E. Walnut, where Bijan’s is now.
The firm joined the likes of Springfield ad firms Noble & Associates, MAT Advertising, Gary Ellison Productions, Baker & Associates, Taylor Communications, Young & Co. “and a host of others who are no longer here,” Wannenmacher said.

Client build-out
Wannenmacher said the firm has survived the competitive Springfield market due to a strong list of core clients.
At the start, Wannenmacher was the agency’s lone employee, managing three client accounts: Springfield Lincoln Mercury Jeep, Mulhollan Furniture and Midwest Lincoln Mercury Jeep.
“They’re consistently a good company to do business with. That’s probably why we’ve stayed with them,” said Keith Osburn, office manager for Springfield Lincoln Mercury Jeep.
The auto dealership spends about 55 percent of its advertising budget with Wannenmacher, which equates to a little more than $20,000 a month, Osburn said. The ad firm primarily creates TV, radio and billboard pieces for Springfield Lincoln Mercury Jeep.
Recently, the dealer has run more TV spots than usual, and Osburn said sales have increased as a result.
Today, Wannenmacher works with about 30 core clients but invoices nearly 400 businesses over the course of a year for such things as brochures and various spots.
The local client roster includes Aquasports, Christian Publishers Outlet, Country Road Collections, Incredible Pizza, Rib Crib and Southwest Baptist University. Others are Marshall Ford in O’Fallon, Hammons Products in Stockton, Operation Homecoming USA in Branson, National Street Rod Association in Clovis, N.M., and Rugs & More in Galena.
Wannenmacher’s company is active throughout the Midwest.
“Half or less of our business is in Springfield,” he said, naming St. Louis, Branson, Joplin, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla. It’s been that way for 10 years, he said.
The firm’s largest current projects include a St. Louis-area television campaign for Marshall Ford; work for West Plains Bank; and promoting expansion for Incredible Pizza Co. and Rib Crib.

Company niche
As a full-service ad agency, Wannenmacher Advertising performs graphic design, including print, outdoor, logo and special publications work; TV and radio production; Web design (minus e-commerce, which gets outsourced); trade show displays; media buying; and promotional products, which Wannenmacher calls ancillary services.
Despite the depth of work, Wannenmacher distills his business into a few words: “We develop and distribute communications to enhance the sales and profits of our clients.”
The firm has built its niche in retail work, primarily for automobile and food industries, as well as banking and tourism.
The company’s 12-year-old event management side continues to grow. Longtime event manager of KY3 Family Fair and the ninth annual Boatshow A’Rising, this year Wannenmacher added Operation Homecoming USA: Welcome Home … America’s Tribute to Vietnam Veterans. The firm is promoting and managing the June 13–19 event in Branson that is expected to draw about 100,000 Vietnam Veterans and their families.
The firm also has taken on numerous community
relation projects, Wannenmacher said, such as the newsletter it’s printed for Springfield Victory Mission since 1992.

Employee loyalty
The loyalty between Wannenmacher Advertising and its clients seems to spread to its work force. In an industry with a lot of turnover, writer Michael Cochran says he feels stable in his job.
“Employees and ad agencies come and go based on accounts being won and lost. Paul is very loyal to his employees, I can testify to that,” said Cochran, a 17-year Wannenmacher employee.
Other tenured employees are Bill Williams, who has worked in account services for 10 years, and eight-year employees Ken Wallace, account executive, and Tom Mast, account executive and editor of Big Sports – a separately held magazine (Wannemacher is majority owner) that Wannenmacher Advertising publishes monthly.
“It’s just really nice in my position to not be concerned about your job,” Cochran said. “We’ve been through a slow time or two, and we just buckled down and went through it together. We’re smoking now. There’s smoke coming out from under our hood.”
Wannenmacher said 2004 was the company’s strongest sales and profit year and the company is exceeding those numbers through February’s profit-and-loss statement. He would not disclose revenues, citing company policy and his tight grip on the books.
“I don’t disclose sales to clients” or employees, he said. “The reality is that a copywriter is just not interested in the P&L. They’re honed in on their particular craft.”

Age game
Wannenmacher’s work force has struck a balance between local ad agency veterans and young professionals.
Half of the staff is older than 50 – with a combined 145 years of media experience – and half is younger than 28, creating an interesting environment in the office, now at 211 E. Walnut, a building Wannenmacher bought and remodeled in 1988 for about $100,000.
“Having that age difference, the older worker and the younger worker get along great. Generally where you have a little bit of friction or politics is when the ages are real close,” he said. “It’s been a very unique dynamic.”
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