Driving a Hybrid

Named after a diminutive but surprisingly strong Turk-ish weightlifter, Pocket Hercules certainly has the oomph it requires to stand out among competitors. Not only does the creative agency mix advertising, interactive services and public relations, but it’s also thrown product development into the blend, becoming brew- masters for a craft beer and a fair-trade coffee line. 

They call it the “hybrid” approach, where each skill area is equally represented, and contributes to the larger whole. With a small staff—fewer than a dozen employees—and a funky office suffused with retro signage and rough-hewn wood accents, the agency has attracted clients like Carl Zeiss Sports Optics, Pearl Izumi, Rapala and Thomson Reuters. 

It all started coming together in 2005, when founders Tom Camp and Jason Smith left Carmichael Lynch to launch the firm, and were soon hired by major creative agency Saatchi to help kick off the introduction of the Toyota Tundra. A few years later, another Carmichael veteran, Jack Supple, signed on and the trio set out to change the way creative was done.

 “In a large agency with 300 people, you don’t have the chance to work as closely on an account, and see all the different angles you can take with brand development or public relations,” says Supple. “When you’re this small, it works easily, you can be nimble.” 

A particularly unique aspect to the firm is the foray into product development. In an effort to reach Rapala’s fishermen customers more creatively, Pocket Hercules partnered with another client, the August Schell Brewing Co., to create Lakemaid Beer. Akin to mermaids, the ladies that adorn the beer’s label are half-woman, half-fish,but unlike their oceanic counterparts, these maids feature tails of walleye, sunfish, perch and other lake-dwelling fish. The agency’s vice president of PR, Stephen Dupont, serves as brewmaster. Another recent product, Tiny Footprint Coffee, is a nod toward the firm’s affection for fair trade goods. 

Although the agency has numerous accounts, it tends to lean toward clients that have an enthusiast customer base—Rapala for fishing, for example, and Pearl Izumi for bikers.

“We help to sharpen and define the voice of companies,” says Camp. “We look at a company’s values as well as their products, and we turn that into something meaningful for enthusiasts. Translating that into different ways is the hybrid part. More and more, we find we’re not relying on the tra- ditional approach of print ads and TV spots; instead, we’re using different methods like product development and social media that are better at building word-of-mouth.” 

In general, Pocket Hercules flexes its muscles as a brand caretaker, adds Smith. All of its efforts go into nurturing a brand, getting the word out, and thinking of creative ways to get attention for clients, while still having fun. “We capture the heart and soul of a brand,” Smith says. “We tap into what makes people passionate about a brand, and just go from there.” 

BizBriefing:

Pocket Hercules 

Headquarters: Minneapolis 

Inception: 2005 

Employees: 12 

Revenue: $2M in 2008 

Description: A full-service hybrid agency, with equal parts advertising, interactive, public relations and product development. 

Website: pockethercules.com