Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Harper
Hi Jim, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I came right out of college as a graphic designer into a package design printing company working in their pre-press, then moved from there into working at a local publisher, The Riverfront Times, which has been around in St. Louis until just a few weeks ago. So right off the bat, because of these types of jobs, I was really used to fast turnaround and moving at blazing speeds. My next job was the game changer; a friend recommended me at an agency that was growing super fast called Zipatoni, owned by Mitch Myers (a current client in the cannabis and CBD space) and legendary creative Jack Thorwegan, both of whom I absolutely worshipped the day I met them. I was the 75th hire out of 350 people being hired at once just for the Miller Brewing business, which consolidated all of its sales promotion or below-the-line agencies into one shop—ours. We were doing work for program campaigns from motorsports to Mardi Gras. Every sales window was accounted for. We were young teams working on NBA partnerships, NASCAR, and some of the first secret pop-up concert concepts I’d ever heard of. A huge agency, full of energy, and we all worked non-stop. At this time, around the dot-com boom, budgets were unreal, so concepts were very huge and blue sky. “What if we…” was a big part of conceptual thinking. And we had legs to support it.
Most of our concepts became lots of consumer touchpoints, and during this hiring frenzy, Zipatoni bought one of the Midwest’s first web development firms to integrate the first uses of digital into the mix. The word viral was first invented, and we learned firsthand the power of the web. I was at this agency when a new startup called Facebook dropped by the conference room for a visit to tell us about the future of online social spaces. Every week something huge happened in the digital space. I was at a happy hour with some workmates a few years later when I saw my friend’s new phone, the first iPhone I’d ever held in my hand. Technology changes everything in our world. You almost get used to getting your mind blown by this work on a weekly basis. It set a precedent for the future in trying to take advantage of every single digital tool to surround an idea that you can muster up. It seemed to affect me very positively about change, because at this time, the world changed over and over again. I took that knowledge with me to a few other agencies later in my career, and I joined one that eventually made me a partner, and I’ve been going that route ever since.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Struggles in the marketing/design world are always:
1.) Recessions – Your budget gets cut first.
2.) Ownership or Brand Management – You work hard to develop a relationship with a client, and they get re-organized or moved. You inherit someone who while they may like your work, they are used to working with a particular agency they already have a relationship with. Once your contract is over, you will usually get replaced.
3.) Performance – Although you do what the client asked, if the performance on a program doesn’t “perform,” you may be penalized or lose the work.
4.) Budget – You are expected to make a brand perform with a small budget. It’s not always easy to do that. Too many variables and the entire digital scape is pay to play.
5.) Scaling up – Which comes first? Adding work or adding people? One is impossible without the other.
All businesses Ebb and Flow, and ours has larger peaks and valleys.
Also, our work is subjective. Just because you know it will work or design a great thing, doesn’t mean the person judging it will like it. Why do we do this again?
The other struggle we deal with is timelines. People who don’t understand the process want really great work, very quickly. We’ve seen the Venn Diagram that shows Good – Fast – Cheap and you can only pick two. That’s reality. We can’t do all 3. That being said, I’ve developed the ability to produce things very cheap, but at any given time, we are all working on several projects at once. The struggle is real.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Harper’s Bizarre is the moniker for myself, my friend Kevin Willingham, and some others who act as branding consultants, designers, illustrators, package designers and consultants, both as CMO’s for smaller companies and agency advisors. We brand, re-brand and develop assets for businesses of many sizes, help retainer clients with their monthly media design, content, book designs and more.
With 3 decades of experience, we are still attuned to modern trends and pop culture. I’ve worked with Fortune 100 companies and small, local businesses, and we work hard to balance our portfolio in that way. As many people know, smaller clients will take more chances design-wise to break through in their channel.
Design is our specialty, from full branding to management of client assets and libraries.
The thing we are most proud of is the fact that almost all of our clients have been in business since we’ve been involved. We’re a part of the team and we set them up for success. We’re very hands-on and immerse ourselves in their culture. We have clients in the food/dessert sector, we have cannabis and CBD clients.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Geesh, that’s tough. Mentally, I was a hot mess during the pandemic.
What I learned is:
Be ready for anything.
Save money.
Think of any possibility of your business changing.
Make sure if your business has any e-commerce possibilities, make sure they are set up.
Office real estate needs to be versatile and the lease fluid somehow.
Bidets are a game changer when people are hoarding toilet paper.
Television is a wonderful invention.
Walking or being outside is necessary to your well-being.
It’s OK to be lazy sometimes.
The internet is terrifying and hilarious.
Having a creative outlet is absolutely detrimental to my well-being.
Don’t only think of yourself.
Science is real.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://harpersbizarre.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harpersbizarreagency/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harpersbizarreagency
- Other: https://plaidcoffeeroasters.com and https://www.fineprintsmallpress.com
Image Credits
Photo Credits:
Christopher Ryan – Storyteller Whiskey
Chris Kessler – Badger Ham
