It was rare for J.R. Pierman, president of the Sault Ste. Marie marketing firm Lucidia, to come across other Saulites working in the industry. So when he heard that a guy named Blake Armstrong, who hails from nearby St. Joseph Island, was heading up the Toronto-based digital advertising agency Salt & Pepper, his interest was piqued.
What could it hurt, he reasoned, to satisfy his curiosity with an introductory meeting.
“We had lunch, and immediately I felt a pretty good personal connection, and the same kind of drive and enthusiasm and feeling about the importance of clients and client relationships,” Pierman said.
By late last fall, the two had a due diligence agreement in place, and this May the firms solidified the partnership with a merger. The new Lucidia employs 35 working from its Sault Ste. Marie and downtown Toronto offices, offering a wider range of digital and traditional marketing services.
From a service standpoint, Salt & Pepper brings with it an array of web development solutions that allow the firm to service a variety of clients. It also boasts vast experience in social media.
“Our focus in social media until this was really more on the strategy and voice—how we speak out in the social media world as a brand,” Pierman said. “We really didn’t provide a community management service, that ongoing day-to-day, week-to-week social media, which they do, and they’ve provided that to a number of clients over the years.”
Lucidia has additionally teamed up with Digital Intelligence Group (DIG), run by Pierman’s former partner, Jeff Elgie. DIG has been focused on search engine optimization and web analytics, which help clients figure out how to best use the web to their advantage.
“It’s nice that we can now offer that ongoing social media engagement to clients and reporting and analytics as well,” Pierman said.
Taking a cue from its clients, Lucidia has partnered with public relations firm Thornley Fallis Communications to help get its name more known.
Culturally, the office is Gen X meets Gen Y, bringing together an interesting mix of employees and the clients they serve, and that diversification provides opportunities to learn from each other, Pierman said.
Not that the firm lets physical space limit its reach or efficacy. Employees travel frequently between the two offices, using virtual meetings to connect with clients and each other. “We really run as one office, despite being two,” Pierman said.
With its goal of a solid, cross-functional team now in place, Lucidia can go after bigger projects. It isn’t the largest agency out there, Pierman said, but it’s fast, efficient and stays true to its brand promise of providing “integrity in advertising.”
“I think it’s exciting for us: new creative talent coming in, new development talent, new strategic thinkers—all that’s given a very positive energy,” Pierman said. “Everybody’s really excited about it internally. I think that passion, in our business, translates a lot to the work we do for our clients.”
