December Small Business of the Month: Bozell

From humble beginnings in Omaha to a worldwide powerhouse and back, Bozell is not your average advertising agency.

“For our clients, we have generated and continue to generate communications and big ideas that are as smart as they are creative. Each begins with solid research and strategy and ends on serious results that outdo the competition and engage audiences,” said Jackie Miller, Bozell’s chief marketing officer.

Founded in 1921 by Leo Bozell and Morris Jacobs, today’s Bozell counts among its most celebrated achievements the “Milk Mustache” and “Pork, the Other White Meat” campaigns, the agency’s role in bringing the NCAA Men’s College World Series to Omaha, and the work its done for a long list of iconic local clients, including First National Bank of Omaha, Mutual of Omaha and Union Pacific.

As it approaches a century in business, Bozell is guided by a vision to “empower those who aspire to change the world.”

“This vision means more to us than just words on a page,” Miller said. “It’s what motivates us day in and day out. It’s what helps us make decisions. It’s what allows us to build lasting relationships. It’s why our clients choose to do business with us and why our employees choose to work here. It’s what our founders instilled in this company nearly a century ago, and it’s most certainly what will continue to motivate our way of business for years to come.”

Winning Insights from Our December Winner:

Providing an Excellent Customer Experience

“In advertising, to provide good customer service means that we must make our clients’ business our business. At Bozell, we call that being ‘close to the customer,’” Miller said. “We constantly work to deeply understand our clients’ business objectives, industries, market opportunities and consumer needs and expectations. If we aren’t solving business problems, we aren’t doing our job. This philosophy is exactly why we have the 60-plus-year relationships with clients like the NCAA Men’s College World Series and First National Bank of Omaha.”

Empowering Employees and Creating a Culture in which They Can Grow and Succeed

“It starts at the top. Many companies say they have a strong work culture, an open work environment and free snacks, but in order to provide a truly unique culture for your employees, you have to take some of the control off of the work environment and allow the culture to think and breathe,” said Kim Mickelsen, Bozell’s CEO. “We’ve seen firsthand that developing a flexible work environment where everyone’s needs are heard and taken into account will bring a company success in the long run and will help reduce employee turnover.”

 Best Practice Tip

“Delegate, delegate, delegate,” Mickelsen said. “Find and hire people who you trust to execute quality work at a high capacity. This is going to be the simplest way for a busy CEO who is just starting out to manage his or her workload while improving the company’s culture.”

The Value of Chamber Involvement

“Having been founded right here in Omaha, being connected to the city by way of the Greater Omaha Chamber is a big deal for us. We both share a love of the Greater Omaha area, and we both have similar goals to grow and improve our community,” Miller said. “The Chamber works hard to be true partners in helping us network and making key connections with businesses and the community.”

Impacting the Community

“Bozell has a long history of giving back. It’s been part of our DNA from the very beginning. Our founder, Morris Jacobs, strongly believed that we should ‘pay rent for the space we occupy on this earth’ by giving our time and talents,” Miller said. “Every year, we donate a significant portion of our labor hours to nonprofit work. In fact, we once received the Corporate Citizenship Award from the Greater Omaha Chamber for our philanthropy efforts. In addition, our staffers are encouraged to get involved with local organizations and nearly 30 percent of our staffers are on board positions with local nonprofits.”

Want to learn more? Learn more about Bozell at Bozell.com.