(L-R) Justin Yax, Mary Angelo and Gary Fulkerson | Photos Courtesy of DVA AGENCY
When one thinks of marketing options in Bend, the name DVA Advertising & Public Relations certainly comes to mind, and with good reason. DVA boasts a strong history, having served clients throughout Central Oregon and across the country for almost three decades. With such substantial roots supporting its emergence, DVA grew like some of the west coast’s best grunge bands, in this case above a garage rather than in it.
Established in 1990 by David Day, strategist, and Cliff Vengley, art director, DVA was initially a 3-5 person agency until Mary Angelo, Director of Client Services, and Justin Yax, Public Relations Director, joined in 2001. With the addition of Creative Director Gary Fulkerson in 2004 (Cliff retired in 2005 and David retired in 2015), the current power trio of partners was united and now proudly resides in a handsome building just east of Bond Street on Greenwood Avenue. With a stellar 13-member staff of diverse expertise all working together under one roof, which means no outsourcing and no virtual workspace, DVA is now Oregon’s largest ad agency east of the Cascades and serves clients throughout the West.
For DVA, collaboration and camaraderie are keys to its success, and this applies not only to those working within the organization itself but also to its clients. With respect to its employees, Public Relations Director Justin Yax explains, “We try to establish and maintain an emotional connection where everyone is invested in the success of one another. Even though there are those who report to the partners, we generally have a fairly equal level of responsibility.”
DVA clearly takes pride in offering those who want to work in advertising a real career. This is a place where they can “grow their chops,” Justin states, “where they are doing cutting-edge work.” A career-minded company, DVA also realizes the importance of striking a balance between work and play, enabling its employees the opportunity to enjoy Bend, thus honoring one of the primary reasons they live here. With such an integrated team fostered by mutual respect and dedication to their profession, the benefits of working for such a tight-knit company seamlessly pass onto its clients.
Due to the region it serves, it is no surprise DVA’s niche resides in destination marketing, that is, recreation and travel tourism, while also serving clients in the pharmaceutical, banking, and healthcare industries. DVA keeps its number of clients small and manageable, currently around 20, and relates to them as “tight business partners,” Mary Angelo, Director of Client Services, explains. Research drives this relationship. The team digs deep to understand their clients’ needs and utilizes well-conceived branding to capture each client’s unique voice, always with respect to the particular audience with whom the client wishes to connect. Strategic planning identifies strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities within the marketing field and draws upon proven tactics and current trends to poignantly deliver the most effective and efficient messages so the client’s goals can be achieved. Creative Director Gary Fulkerson packages all this information into a clean, attractive message, which, if appropriate, may contain only a single word and a compelling image as was the case with the agency’s recent “Wander” campaign for Whitefish, Montana.
Such extensive research bears much fruit, not only for the present client but also for future ones. Mary reveals that DVA spends “a lot of time recapping performance to see what we did to achieve outcomes so that we can apply that learning to other clients’ needs, if applicable.” The applicability remark is key since DVA is definitely not a “one size fits all” company. Rather, the advertising & public relations agency prides itself upon creativity, continuously asking the generative question “What if?,” which its partners and staff believe to be “the two greatest words in the English language,” thus stressing possibility and opportunity. As Justin makes clear, DVA does not rely upon “canned or prepackaged solutions.” “Nobody understands business better than the client, he states, so we work hard to realize the client’s goal, and this means the tangible results, not the sexy advertisement but the work it does.”
DVA’s message is clear and plainly stated on their website: “Most use creativity to find advertising solutions. We use creativity to achieve your business goals. Ideas should be unexpected. Results should not!” With such a powerful statement and proven track record to back it up, DVA Advertising & Public Relations might be just what your business needs to achieve the next level of success.
