John Follis

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John Follis

Image:Follis.pic.2.jpg
Birth name John Gregory Follis
Born June 23, 1954 (1954-06-23) (age 53)
New Haven, CT
Website http://www.follisinc.com

http://www.thefollisreport.com http://www.themarketingshow.net

John Follis (born June 23, 1954). With an award-winning Madison Avenue agency background, John has immerged as a leading authority on innovative, results-driven marketing for the evolving media.

In the 80's, John's award-winning creative contributions on the (then start-up) Kenneth Cole account helped take that business from a three store operation to an internationally respected brand with over a hundred locations. In the 90's, John co-founded Follis&Verdi (later Follis/DeVito/Verdi) which became one of New York's most successful, award-winning agencies. The agency's successful campaign for tiny Sorrell Ridge Fruit Spread became the subject of a Forbes piece, a CNBC report, and a Harvard Business case study on how small companies can beat the big guys. John was also honored at the United Nations and The White House for his agency's award-winning and highly effective national effort for Child Abuse Prevention.

In this decade, his company Follis, Inc services and consults with clients large and small, local and internationally. He is a contributing columnist for ADWEEK, a nationally requested speaker on effective marketing and Social Media, and is credited with coining the Web 2.0 term G-Cred." He also authors The Follis Marketing Report blog and is creator and host of the Top 20 marketing podcast The Marketing Show with John Follis.

John was also fired 4 times and told by a college professor that he would not make it in advertising.



Contents

[edit] Background

A Syracuse University ’76 grad, Follis began his career working for major ad agencies such as FCB/Chicago and DDB Worldwide. In the mid-80’s his entrepreneurial career began with freelance for such top New York shops as Chiat/Day, Della Femina and Kirshenbaum & Bond. His work on the Kenneth Cole account resulted in awards and national press. In ‘88, Follis co-founded Follis&Verdi, (later Follis/DeVito/Verdi) with clients such as The American Stock Exchange, No Excuses Jeans, Solgar Vitamins[1] and Sorrell Ridge[2]. Described as "simple and effective" by ADWEEK[3] and “in your face” by TIME, [4]his agency’s highly effective, attention-getting campaigns have been covered in The Wall St Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Time, Forbes, The Harvard Business Review, and Prentice-Hall’s Principles of Marketing.

In ‘93, Follis/DeVito/Verdi won 9 ADDY Awards[5] making it the third most awarded agency in New York. That same year, Follis formed Follis Inc[6] to include a focus on non-traditional and online marketing. Follis continued winning awards such as the Golden Web Award (three times) for his agency’s website[1] In ‘03, to address the growing needs of smaller clients, Follis created Marketing TherapyTM. And in ‘06 Follis created The Follis Marketing Report blog and The Marketing Show with John Follis podcast which currently lists on iTunes.



[edit] Published Works

Follis has been a featured columnist in ADWEEK[7] [8][9] [10][11][12][13] Ad Age[14][15]and the New York Enterprise Report.[16] His MAD AVE column[2] has been a popular feature on Talent Zoo for several years. His original essay; MAD AVE, appears in Mirror On America[17] a pop culture anthology including essays from Dick Clark, Stephen King, Dave Barry and MTV’s Kurt Loder. Follis’s campaign for the Marble Collegiate Church is featured in the college text, Principles of Marketing [18]. His early ad work on the Kenneth Cole account is featured in Cole’s, Footnotes (Simon & Schuster, 2003). And, in 2006, Follis published How to Attract and Excite Your Prospects: A Guide for Getting the Best Marketing Results[19] John is also the man behind the Web 2.0 term G-Cred for credibility via Google. Though coined in '05, it was his May '07 article in ADWEEK http://www.follisinc.com/gcred.htm that brought G-Cred to international attention. [20]



[edit] Awards and Honors

Follis was honored as “One of New York’s 12 Best" by The New York Ad Club. He also received a United Nations Public Service Award and was honored at The White House for his agency’s highly effective national TV campaign for The National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse. John and his agencies have also won several dozen ad awards such as Clio Awards, ANDY’S[21], Addy Awards[22], One Show, New York Festival, Obie[23], Athena, Creativity, and Golden Web Awards.



[edit] Teaching and Speaking

John has been an adjunct professor of advertising and marketing at the Parsons School of Design, the School of Visual Arts, and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Follis is also a nationally requested speaker having spoken at such venues as The American Management Association, The World Business Academy, Social Media '07, The Yale Entrepreneurial Institute and The NYU Entrepreneurship Conference.



[edit] Non-Profit work

Follis, and his agencies, have worked with such orgizations as Unicef, The League of Women Voters, CancerCare, The Olympic Games, The Foundation for AIDS Research, The Marble Collegiate Church[24], Mothers Against Drunk Driving, SmokeFree, Scholastic’s Stay in School Program, and The National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse[25],. His work for the NCPCA resulted in being honored at The White House. An interview about John’s non-profit involvement can be heard on Goodnewsbroadcast.com.



[edit] Notes

  1. ^ ELLIOTT, STUART. "ADVERTISING -- ADVERTISING -- ADDENDA; Accounts", The New York Times, April 21, 1992. (English) 
  2. ^ McCormack, Kevin. "Sorrell Ridge puts Smuckers in a jam", ADWEEK, February 6, 1989. (English) 
  3. ^ "Marketing Solution", ADWEEK, February 6, 1989. 
  4. ^ "Marketing", TIME Magazine, March 29, 1999. 
  5. ^ BRYANT, ADAM. "Awards Presented At 2 Ceremonies", The New York Times, March 17, 1993, p. 19. (English) 
  6. ^ JANOFSKY, Michael. "ADVERTISING -- ADDENDA; A Partner Leaves Follis DeVito Verdi", The New York Times, July 28, 1993. (English) 
  7. ^ Follis, John (July '00). "The Truth Hurts.". ADWEEK. ,
  8. ^ Follis, John (Jan '01). "Selling God". ADWEEK. ,
  9. ^ Follis, John (April ’01). "Survivor : Mad Ave..". ADWEEK. ,
  10. ^ Follis, John (June '05). "Running On Empty". ADWEEK. ,
  11. ^ Follis, John (May '06). "Podcasting Grows Up". ADWEEK. ,
  12. ^ Follis, John (Feb '08). ""Second Thoughts on Second Life." http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/community/columns/other-columns/e3i9c08e2d703b6c6d8aadf270944cdd0f4". ADWEEK. ,
  13. ^ Follis, John (May '08). ""Shiny Metal Objects." http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/community/columns/other-columns/e3i92f29f82847baa418829b3748de07484". ADWEEK. ,
  14. ^ Follis, John (June ’97). "Do Awards Really Matter?". Ad Age. ,
  15. ^ Follis, John (Aug ’98). "The Putterman Principle.". Ad Age. ,
  16. ^ Follis, John (Jan ’06). "H ow to Market A Business with No Marketing Budget.". New York Enterprise Report. ,
  17. ^ Mims, Joan T. (2000). Mirror On America. Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 0312399332. }}
  18. ^ Kotler, Philip (2001). Principles of Marketing. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0130263125. }}
  19. ^ Follis, John. How to Attract and Excite Your Prospects:. Follis Inc. ISBN 0976864401. 
  20. ^ Follis, John (May '07). ""Got G-Cred?" http://www.follisinc.com/gcred.htm". ADWEEK. ,
  21. ^ ELLIOTT, STUART. "7 Andy Awards For Chiat/Day", The New York Times, May 5, 1992. (English) 
  22. ^ BRYANT, ADAM. "Awards Presented At 2 Ceremonies", The New York Times, March 17, 1993, p. 19. (English) 
  23. ^ ELIOT, STUART. "Prize Billboards That Stick Their Necks (or Spoons) Out", The New York Times, May 7, 1992,, p. 20. (English) 
  24. ^ Brozan, Nadine. "For the Good Book, A Good Sales Pitch", The New York Times, October 4, 1998, pp. 43. (English) 
  25. ^ RAMIREZ, Anthony. "ADVERTISING -- ADDENDA; Pro Bono Accounts", The New York Times, December 27, 1994. (English)