Stream Cos. follows trends
MALVERN -- Well, it beats punching the clock.
Jason Brennan and David Regn came to head up their own marketing and advertising company out of a love of marketing, sure, but also through a yearning for independence.
"We would hang around drinking beer and our conversations always rolled around to the idea that we didn't want to work for anybody else," Brennan recalled.
In 1996 they began working for themselves. Today they have built up Stream Cos. into a 12-person operation with a wide breadth of clients.
That breadth is one of the things they like about doing marketing work. "I enjoy the fact that we can go into different industries and learn about different things," Brennan said. "We've had a slaughterhouse and a pharmaceutical company, we've had a car company and doctors and lawyers. We get the opportunity to be these people, at least in our minds, for a little while."
By living in the client's head, the partners say, they are able to achieve better results, which has helped them build the kind of relationships that plant the seeds of growth.
"Because of our relationships, we know what doors to knock on," Regn said. "We may not have the door open for us, but at least we have a name to start with."
In one case their connections led the young men to a Motorola dealer, a contact that eventually landed the company one of its first big-name contracts.
"The work that we did for them made its way up through the ranks at Motorola," Regn said. Eight years later Stream was named an authorized marketing company for all Motorola dealers nationwide.
It takes more than just slick advertising to produce that kind of result. "There are two sides to it each time," Brennan said. "There is the creative work we bring to the table, but there is also the question of how we are going to bring accountability into their business model."
Customers say that business focus adds value to Stream's offerings.
A vice president at Lynnes Auto Group in North Jersey, Julie Tozzo has been using Stream for about four years. "I was just so fed up with the average marketing and PR firms out there," Tozzo said. "Advertising agencies that work with car dealers are so used to overcharging, and you just get recycled work."
In addition to fresh work, Stream also has provided Tozzo with valuable strategic advice. "They attend our sales meetings and give us input. They tell us how they see our operation and where there are opportunities for growth. They give us real-life direction and guidance."
As president of Counsel Consulting Group in King of Prussia, Eileen Clark likewise relies on Stream's strategic insights. "They ask to meet with us about once a month and it's never a sales pitch. Instead we talk about the business, what's going well, what's not going well, what are the areas we are trying to focus on. They will network for us with their contracts. I always feel like they are out there trying to make our business grow as much as we are."
That's high praise for a couple of guys who practically failed before they even began.
Each anted up $5,000 of his own money to launch the business, which promptly brought in zero dollars for an entire year. In year two the principals were able to bring in a whopping $12,000 each.
Yet Regn has no second thoughts about those lean times.
"I don't think I would have done anything different," he said. "Not making money really creates a drive and a passion and an urgency toward having to perform."
Despite their current successes, the partners are ever mindful of the challenges inherent in their business. "Everyone wants it tomorrow," Regn said. "We're always under deadline, especially in the automotive industry. Some of the manufacturer incentives don't come out until three or four days into a new month, which leaves us only a day or two to do TV, print, e-mail."
The partners say their relative youth has always been a plus.
"In what we do people want to do business with young guys who are up on the trends, who are 'hip,' for lack of a better word," Regn said.
Brennan notes that this edgy factor is offset by the company's 10-year track record of success. "That is one of our greatest assets right now, that combination of being young and having experience."
UP CLOSE
Name: Jason Brennan, 30, and David Regn, 31
Company: Stream Cos.
301 Lindenwood Drive, Malvern, Pa. 19134
Best business decision: "Our best decision was to start our own business," Regn said.
Key challenge overcome: "Does not making money for a couple years count?" Regn said.
What you would be doing if you weren't running a company? "I'd probably be in the food industry, maybe a brand manager, a marketing manager," Brennan said.
Advice to other young entrepreneurs: After the sales pitch, "don't forget to ask for the client's business, to ask for their trust in you," Brennan said.