Kirschner :: responsible advertising™

By Terry Rader

What’s in a name? A lot. When people ask me what agency I work for and I tell them The Kirschner Agency, they often respond with “who?” Although we’ve been working internationally for seven years, most of our neighbors do not recognize our name.

For six years the agency had been called US1 Advertising. I had helped Ralph Kirschner create this agency by designing the first brochure that won his first account. Ralph had spent much of the prior fifteen years in Germany, writing for multinational accounts like Sony, and had just moved back in 1998 to his native land North Carolina. He had recognized that German companies selling in the US have a crucial need for an advertising agency with American writers and designers who understand the American culture. After spending so much time on both sides of the globe, Ralph very clearly understood that knowing the culture makes all the difference when communicating an effective message.

What goes over well in Europe may fall flat in America, while what is hot in America may not work at all well overseas. So US1 Advertising was born to bring both sides of the globe together, combining Ralph’s 15 years of advertising experience with my 25 years of Graphic Design/Art Direction experience. Our team has grown, and our clients are often amazed at the higher level of responses they receive since they began working with us.

As Creative Director, I approached Ralph about my ideas on the name US1 Advertising, a couple of years ago. We’ve always had US clients, and we both knew we wanted to expand that and help more American companies grow in the same way we’ve helped our German-owned clients. I suggested we change the name to The Kirschner Agency. Ralph was at first reluctant, feeling that would it sound too self-important. But in today’s changing times, I believed that being able to stand behind your name instead of a catch-phrase is much more assuring to a potential client. I was also convinced that the name would be more evocative for American clients. Eventually he was persuaded, and The Kirschner Agency was born.

The Kirschner Agency has much to offer, whether the target market is global, local, or glocal. We’ve been working internationally for more than seven years, often with very complex products, and we pride ourselves on getting to know our clients, their products and services, their markets, and their unique culture — regardless of where they’re located. The goal is always the same, to help them to be more successful. Today, our “Responsible Advertising” tagline also makes a statement about our ethics and our endeavors for a healthier future for all generations to come. In keeping with that, one of our goals is to work with more environmentally-responsible companies.

So there really is a story behind every name and every company. This is only the beginning of the story of The Kirschner Agency