In a Fast-Changing Ad Industry, Old Truths Prevail

(Excerpts from the February 2002 issue of the Danbury/Housatonic Valley Business Digest
By Susan Baker and Richard B. Elsberry)

When 19-year-old student David Goodwick stepped into a Wisconsin mall, briefcase in hand, to sell ads for a campus newspaper, little did he know it would be the start of a long and enriching career in advertising and marketing. "I was a political science/journalism major at the University of Wisconsin," said Goodwick, currently CEO of the advertising firm Goodwick/Liazon Leverage Marketing Group in Newtown.

"Early on I wanted to become a lawyer. Then I started a campus newspaper. I soon realized the role of advertising. Without funding, there would be no paper. Surprisingly, that day I sold a lot of ads." Goodwick said he felt scared that first time but there was something satisfying about it. "I thought, this is what I like." He had caught the advertising bug and that fateful trip to the mall was just the beginning.

His last semester in college, he went to work for an ad agency. After graduating, he worked at several major firms in the Chicago area and elsewhere and at one point (1975) he was a press secretary for the Governor of Wisconsin, Patrick Lucey. Goodwick founded his own firm in 1981, Goodwick Associates, which merged with Liazon Marketing in 1999, becoming Leverage Marketing Group.

One thing that's changed in the industry, he said, was the advent of computers and the mechanics of putting together an ad campaign. "There is no more paste-up. We do it all on the computer." With computers, he said, came the Internet and with the Internet came business Web sites, a new vehicle for marketing. Peter Giola, economist at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said that many companies in the advertising industry did very well during the dot.com boom in the 1990s. However, he added, when the bubble burst late in the decade, many companies suffered.

The dot.com situation didn't affect Goodwick's company much. "Agencies willing to be measured and produce results will always be successful, regardless of the state of the economy," says Goodwick. "This is my third recession," he said. "I started my business in a recession in 1981. But we still have a lot of clients who have been with us for 20 years. All of the dot.coms we've worked with are still in business because they've all made a profit."

Despite the changes in the industry, there are other fundamental tenets that haven't changed. "At the end of the day," said Goodwick, "it's all about making sales - a product or service - whatever you're selling."

Goodwick begins the process by sitting down with a client. "We find out if our business issues are compatible," he said. He urges clients to be specific, for example, "I want this brochure to increase sales by 25 percent."

Photo by Brian McGloin

The executive team of The Goodwick/Liazon Leverage Marketing Group includes (left to right), Michael Casale, president, Richard Brzozowski, vice president of creative services, and founder and CEO David Goodwick.

When meeting with a client, the advertising professional and the businessperson should figure out together the answers to the following questions: What are we selling? What are we selling against? (i.e., the economy). Who are we selling? Who are we selling against? (i.e., the competition). And lastly, How do we sell it?

"Advertising can be a strategic asset," said Goodwick, "and it works in a down economy as well as an up economy if you do it right."

At year's end Leverage picked up a half dozen new accounts from Manhattan agencies, including the Finnish economic development agency, a trade association for the meetings and conventions industry, and a Fairfield County manufacturer of stuffed toys. The reason: "We are willing to be measured on our ability to produce results. We are willing to take the risk. No risk, no reward."