Why Cincinnati has quickly become a major marketing hub in the U.S.

New York City has long been known as the ad capital of the United States but, when it comes to brand marketing, the Queen City aims to be King. Cincinnati, Ohio has been making a solid case for becoming the next great marketing hub in the U.S. In fact,
Ad Age recently called Cincinnati “the center of the consumer marketing universe.” The strong concentration of consumer branding has, over time, attracted a broader range of marketing communication professionals – bringing fresh
thinking to a town once solely known as P&G country.

3 Reasons Cincinnati is No Longer a Flyover Town in the Marcom World

INDUSTRY GIANTS AND THE BIRTHPLACE OF BRAND MANAGEMENT

With many leading brands such as Tide, Gillette and Pampers, Procter & Gamble – headquartered in Cincy – is the world’s largest multinational consumer goods company. Not only has the size of P&G greatly impacted the city, it leads
a strong history of brand marketing innovations, most notably, Neil McElroy, a Procter & Gamble executive, who invented the very idea of brand management in 1931. In a now famous memo,
McElroy suggested that P&G dedicate independent teams for each separate brand which included packaging, advertising, planning and budgeting – a separation of resources unheard of at the time. Brand management as a business technique was
one of the signal innovations in American marketing during the twentieth century.

Besides Procter & Gamble, another local industry giant is Macy’s, the largest global department store with half of it’s headquarters in Cincinnati. Then there’s Kroger, of course, the world’s largest grocery retailer – and that’s
only three of the ten Fortune 500 companies that call Cincinnati home, more per capita than New York, Boston, Chicago or Los Angeles.

IF YOU BRAND IT, THEY WILL COME

With the opportunity to support these mega brands, Cincy has become a powerful magnet for attracting thought leaders from all over the country. More than 700 branding, marketing, advertising and research firms have a presence in Cincinnati and employ
over 60,000 industry professionals. In fact, the city’s marketing industry is expecting a 16% jump in job growth by 2020 – more than four times the national average.

START ME UP

Success breeds success and Cincinnati has become a hotbed for attracting startups, with entrepreneurs and experienced brand managers joining forces. Cincinnati is also home to one of the country’s top accelerator programs, The Brandery, dedicated to attracting and supporting more investors and entrepreneurs to the Queen City and contributing
to Cincinnati’s ranking as the #2 place for thriving startups by a 2012 CNN Money poll.

At (matter), we are exhilarated by the local influence of visionaries and fresh talent. We welcome a chance for you to get to know us – whether assisting you every step of the way as your agency of record or working on a project-by-project basis, we’re experts yet we’re approachable… just like the city we call home.