San Diego: A Marketing Agency Hotbed

Jon // August 2, 2010 // Advertising // 5 Comments

I am so darned sick and tired of marketing agency people with an inferiority complex about being in San Diego, and last week creative legend Mike Hughes had my back.  Mike was in town to speak to a group of marketing leaders gathered by San Diego AdClub, and one of the key points he made was that creativity can come from anywhere – even San Diego.

Mike is the creative genius at The Martin Agency (ADWEEK agency of the year), and is the guy behind blockbuster advertising campaigns for GEICO (geckos, cavemen, dancing money), Walmart (tear jerker holiday ads with snow falling on troops in Iraq), the singing guy from freecreditreport.com and more.  And that award winning blockbuster agency is located in….Richmond, Virginia.

Richmond? Population 204,000 thousand, humid in the summer and snowy in the winter, miles from anything remotely cultural, capital of the Confederacy and firmly planted in Southern traditions.

Yet guys like Mike Hughes can thrive there.  Creative geniuses from around the country are drawn there. Talent grows and prospers there.

So why would we not expect the same or better from San Diego?  We’re a happy bunch, basking in nearly perfect weather, enjoying a plethora of cultural events and arts, inspired by people of all ethnicities and backgrounds, and uniquely uber cool.

Look at this amazing work by some of our best local talent, and tell me there’s not the seed of some greatness here.  We just have to nurture it so it can grow into the next Martin Agency or Crispin Porter (Miami? Gimme a break).

http://www.vitrorobertson.com/
http://www.meadsdurket.com/
http://www.gearyi.com/
http://www.lambesis.com/
http://www.fishtankba.com/
http://www.baileygardiner.com/

Come on folks. Drop the apologies and just pony up. We deserve the cred.