After spending 20 years in Elma/East Aurora, Clevermethod marketing agency has moved into its new headquarters on the Buffalo River. Agency owners Doug Kasperek and Matt Hasselback decided that they wanted to be more centrally located, and felt that the time was right to be part of the growing urban/waterfront resurgence.
Formerly occupying 6000 square feet of office space, the 301 Ohio Street digs provide an additional 2400 square feet of usable space, in a more open and collaborative environment, complete with a number of conference rooms to choose from, along with new technologies. The Buffalo River offices are a bigger and better draw for talent, said Hasselback during a recent phone conversation, who hinted that the company is always on the hunt for top creative minds.
“We’re currently around 25 or 30 employees,” said Hasselback. “I’m originally a Southtowns guy, and a couple of our anchor clients are Fisher Price and Mattel, so it made sense to be out in East Aurora for the last 20 years. But now we’re watching this neighborhood grow – it has the potential of being the next Larkinville. Plus we’re right on the water, and we can walk to Sabres games (and maybe someday Buffalo Bills games), restaurants, etc. We even set up an activity wall with Clevermethod bikes and kayaks for employees. We’re also looking at exploring a cooperative membership with Central Rock Buffalo (climbing gym – now open, next to Resurgence Brewery II). It’s all about advancing corporate culture these days – we wanted to include all of the healthy aspects, as well as building out modern corporate offices.”
Hasselback told me that they have done close to zero advertising over the years, because they gain clients primarily from word of mouth referrals. But now they have invested in a brilliant new sign that broadcasts their message out onto the river. “We pulled some strings to get in place before the Music is Art festival,” Hasselback noted. “Doug and I keep telling ourselves that every time people see the sign, the up front cost goes down [laughing]. You just can’t beat this advertising.”
Clevermethod is a full service marketing agency running the tech gamut, from creative services to development services, including strategy, analytics, creative development, and client relations. Hasselback considers the business a one stop marketing shop, with services performed in-house, rather than farming out to other agencies. Clevermethod handles content marketing, search engine optimization, social media, web design, website and app development, content management systems, etc.
Buffalo Rising readers might remember that at one point in time, Ellicott Development was eyeing up the 301 Ohio Street space for the Buffalo Beach Club. Since that time, a few other businesses have moved into the second floor of the building, including Ted’s Corporate and 716 Security. That’s another reason that Clevermethod felt like it was the right fit for their needs… growing corporate momentum. I asked Hasselback if he could foresee a company boat anytime in the future. He told me that it’s tough not to think about it. “There is a nice docking facility,” he pondered. “Maybe a floating mobile web development component… you never know.”
For anyone interested – there is still half of the first floor available for restaurant or office space.
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