The skills of an award-winning, creative agency meet an innovative business model that can help you grow your business affordably with Summit Collective
By Mimi Vanderhaven
The days of the Mad Men marketing agency may be gone, but the structure across many traditional agencies hasn’t changed much—until now.
Northeast Ohio’s Summit Collective is flipping the old-school model on its head. This innovative new business “collective” is a curated group of successful, specialized, creative businesses who can work both independently and collaboratively.
“Together, we’re a full-service creative agency, yet we’re also independent business owners,” explains Joren Rapini, owner of web development company emBold and a co-founder of Summit Collective.
“That means we don’t have a graphics division with layers of management. Instead, the Collective features a highly successful and specialized graphic design business—and you can work directly with the owner.”
Five Businesses Working Together
The Summit Collective includes five independent businesses and offers a broad range of creative services, including website and app development, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click ads, photography, videography, graphic design, copywriting, marketing strategy, community engagement, social media, ad buying, and public relations.
“Basically, we’re a group of entrepreneurs with growing businesses who love our work—and who’ve joined together to provide our deep, specific talents in customizable packages. One client might need a quick project while another might require a multi-level, multi-year campaign. Now, we’re set-up for both,” shares Kat Pestian, co-owner of Amp Strategy, a communications and marketing firm in Akron, who joined the collective group last year. And chances are, you’ve already seen their work.
Prestigious Clients
The prestigious client list across the Summit Collective members includes international consumer goods companies, regional manufacturers, small mom-and-pop businesses, national foundations, and local not-for-profit community organizations.
“Our flexible model allows us to work cost-effectively yet comprehensively with organizations of all sizes,” explains Summit Collective co-founder James Kurtz, owner of Kurtz Graphics in Hudson.
“Instead of maintaining a high level of resources and overhead, we work on an ad-hoc basis to fulfill specific needs of a particular project.”
According to James, Summit Collective clients find lower pricing than traditional agencies, yet enjoy sought-after, comprehensive and high-quality services. Plus, clients can pick and choose which elements of the collective group they need to engage with—without paying for the overhead of everyone.
For more information, please visit SummitCollective.org, call 330-714-2274, or email kat@ampstrategy.com.