Q&A with Christine Tieri, President, Idea Agency
Christine Tieri, president and certified brand strategist, Idea Agency
Christine Tieri founded the advertising agency smith&jones in 1994 in Worcester and operated under that brand for 21 years, mostly out of a building Tieri owned at 76 Main St. in Sturbridge. On Sept. 1, the company moved into a new, more open space at 420 Main St. in Sturbridge, under the new brand Idea Agency, Inc. to symbolize its shift toward an integrated brand development company.
When did you first make the decision to relocate your business?
It was early 2015, and I had never really thought about moving. Table 3, which is a restaurant group across town, called me to say, “We are moving into this new space, and it has your name written all over it.”
I walked in, and it was the exact place I would have wanted to build myself. It was a post-and-beam structure, and I looked around and thought of all the amazing things we could do there. Immediately, the wheels starting turning, and I decided it was time to think about moving.
How did you want the new space to feel?
It represents a lot of collaboration. We have a lot of open space, tables and places to write. It really represents the collaboration we have with our clients and everyone who works here.
We really try to encourage that community feel.
How does that feel represent who Idea Agency is as a company?
Being an idea agency, everybody’s ideas build off each other. People can bounce their ideas off each other – Hey, what do you think about this? What do you think about that? – and really get that energy going.
For our type of company where we are promising to solve our clients’ business challenges with creativity, it is really important.
Why did you change the name of the company at the same time?
I said if we are going to move across town, let’s take a really hard look at our brand and just see who we are – just as I would recommend to any client thinking about a big move – and let’s make sure we are in alignment with who we are as a business and where we want to head in the future.
At that point, we thought maybe we should drop the “smith&jones idea agency” to just “Idea Agency.” We have kept everything really simple and elegant, and it really seemed like a purist idea of where we are headed.
How is the space updated meet the your new needs?
A lot of things have changed with technology. We have our social media station where anyone can contribute to social media throughout the day. Our conference room is a focus-group room along with a brainstorm room and a conference room, and it has the technology needed to go with that.
We have really upped the ante as far as using technology to our benefit. It is a real juxtaposition in this old post-and-beam building to have sort of everything cutting edge.
Why do you recommend clients also evaluate their own brands?
It renews your commitment to the future. You should look at your business model every year, but every five to eight years, you should really look at where you are as a brand to make sure you are on track. If you are feeling a little fuzzy about it, you really need to take a stronger look.
Where marketing has changed over the last several years, we really owed it to ourselves to understand what we are trying to do. Brand development has really risen to the top because no matter how marketing has changed, brand continuity is key to holding a good, strong company together.
We really started putting brand first. That is the core of our business because it feeds everything else.
I would recommend that to any client who is looking at their business model and is maybe moving in a different direction than when they started.
What do you like about Sturbridge?
It is really nice to have the cutting-edge people, imaginative thinkers and progressive thinkers that you might have in a big city right here in Sturbridge. We are really happy to be here.
This interview was conducted and edited for length by Brad Kane, WBJ Editor.
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