CKS Group

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CKS Group was an advertising agency based in Cupertino, California, catering to technology companies. The initials CKS came from the three name partners, Bill Cleary, Mark Kvamme, and Tom Suiter. All three had previously worked for Apple Computer. The company went public in 1995 and merged with USWeb in 1998.

The origins of the company went back to Cleary Communications, a business venture started by Cleary in 1987. Kvamme bought into the venture in 1989, and the CKS name was adopted in 1991 after Suiter joined the other two.

Due to its origins, the company had a natural expertise with interface design and other technical matters that distinguished it from traditional advertising agencies. It also had a ready-made client base, with Apple as one of its major customers. CKS bought a video production studio from Apple and at one point contemplated putting together a cable television channel with Ziff-Davis Publishing. The studio was to be used to create infomercials to fill airtime, while also doing work for Apple, which had a demand for video work but had found the studio too expensive to maintain.

[edit] References

• Weston, Rusty. "The In-Your-Interface Ad Agency". Wired, July 1994.

Tom Suiter: http://tsuiter.com/ Bill Cleary: http://www.clearypartners.com/ Mark Kvamme: http://www.sequoiacap.com/people/mark-kvamme/