By IAN ROSS
When Johnny and Maurissa Grano first launched Creative Odyssey 11 years ago, they had a difficult time getting anyone to take them seriously.
 |
Johnny and Maurissa Grano’s journey has taken them past unsympathetic loan officers, skeptical prospective clients and now into cyberspace as their company, Creative Odyssey, launches web-based off-shoot Capsule Marketing. |
Being short on real-world experience, but big on enthusiasm, wasn’t enough to convince some clients and banks to take a chance on a professionally green, young married couple.
“That’s probably a big stumbling block for any new enterprise,” admits Johnny, 39.
“Especially being young,” adds Maurissa, 33.
But check out an insert for Elliot Lake Retirement Living in Maclean’s magazine and you’ll find the Granos’ fingerprints are all over it.
Today, some of their well-known clients include Greater Sudbury’s Regional Business Centre, ViaNet, Dalron Construction, the towns of Espanola and Dubreuilville, and Optical Surveillance, a large North American security company.
The Westmount Avenue, Sudbury firm began as a small side venture in 1994 with Maurissa, a registered graphic designer, at the helm, while Johnny worked as a marketing manager for a real estate developer.
Through their connections and hard work, it grew into a full-time enterprise that provides traditional and new media advertising solutions and expertise in trade show and event planning for various municipalities, corporations and government agencies in Northern Ontario.
The Cambrian College graduates met at another Sudbury advertising agency in the early 1990s, where Maurissa worked as a graphic designer and Johnny worked in sales and marketing.
“I always joke I was there long enough to meet Maurissa.”
But both felt the itch to start their own venture and do things their way.
Maurissa describes their early years operating out of their New (east) Sudbury home as “awful” in dealing with the rejection from potential clients.
“People don’t take you seriously (as a woman in your early 20s).”
It was a hard sell to many banks, too.
But fortunately, the Business Development Bank and TD Bank pitched in and offered some backing for the young entrepreneurs with lines of credit to get them started.
A few clients gave them an early break as well, including Belanger Ford, Contact North and Elliot Lake Retirement Living, whom they still retain as a major client. They do all of their external advertising in newspapers, magazines and trade publications.
Being located in the North has its distinct operating cost advantages over southern Ontario, but once clients sample their diverse portfolio of work, Johnny says, distance from markets doesn’t matter.
“With the (way) technology has changed over the last 10 years, you don’t have to physically be there.”
Both say what drives them is the creative process and setting an objective to promote the best message for their client’s business.
“We like to have our hand in the whole project and make sure what they’re asking for is what they’re getting,” says Maurissa. “We want to make sure it’s done and done right. I’m a pretty aggressive person that way.”
The Granos have now forayed into more specialized marketing with their launch last year of a new web-based spin off company, Capsule Marketing. The customized program is geared to helping health-care professionals market themselves.
With clients able to sign up online, inquiries are coming in from every province, says Johnny, with about 15 medical practitioners already signed up.
Last year, Johnny achieved distinction as a Certified Trade Show Marketer, an industry-recognized marketing program hosted by
Exhibitor, a leading trade show publication.
Trade shows are a “monster industry” in the U.S. and the skills training he offers helps clients eliminate the trial-and-error most companies often make in attending these events.
More
Technology Industry News
stories, please click on
Technology-Northern Ontario
