40 Years – What a Ride!
On June 10th, Mintz & Hoke celebrates its 40th anniversary. In this business, this is a significant achievement. Started by two visionaries - Alan Mintz & Joe Hoke - Mintz & Hoke is still going strong and remains vibrant and relevant despite having weathered multiple recessions and downturns, client wins and losses, business shifts and a dizzying amount of change and upheaval in the digital world. What is remarkable is the firm's ability to change and adapt to whatever challenge the advertising and communications world throws at us.
Having been at the agency since 1986, I've seen firsthand what makes achieving a 40th anniversary doable. The heart of Mintz & Hoke is and will always be the people. Countless talented people, probably well in excess of a thousand, have made an impact and a difference throughout the years - both big and small. Many people came to work here and stayed for years. It is often said that in a service business your assets go up and down with the elevator. That's a truism of Mintz & Hoke. Joe and Alan set the stage for a culture that was about collaboration and mutual respect. They wanted the best for their people and the clients they served, with a realization and astute understanding that people make a difference in a business.
I've often said that the people in advertising and communications are among the smartest I've worked with. You have to be inquisitive, smart and have a high level of intuition. You're forced to know a lot about a lot. I've seen these qualities on a day-in and day-out basis at 40 Tower Lane. There is no better feeling than working with people who are smart and driven - it is the greatest motivator in business. Questioning the known and unknown is commonplace here. After all, we were once known as the 'Street Smart' agency. Today, we help make the complex sale happen for clients. To pay this off, you need a big brain. I've seen and worked with many strategic and creative brains that developed and produced work that made a difference emotionally and rationally - touching both hearts and minds.
No communications firm reaches a 40th anniversary without having great clients along the way. Clients are what make a business - they pay the bills. Essentially, they sign the paychecks, but it is far more than that. The agency/client dynamic needs no explanation and will exist long after we're all out of the business. Clients challenge, question and critique, but it is all part of the business. Clients such as Loctite helped forge the business-to-business acumen that is the fundamental core element of who Mintz & Hoke is today. Whether it is a project or program, an AOR engagement or a 22-year long relationship with Pratt & Whitney, clients are at the very core of our success.
When it comes right down to it, an agency's worth and value is based upon the work it puts out. It is all about the work - plain and simple. Smart and thoughtful creative work has always been a hallmark of Mintz & Hoke. Never succumbing to "signature" work, it is always tailored to the individual client's situation. I've seen us do work that made people cry, become moved to donate money, think differently about disabilities, accept differences of opinions and become motivated to take action - be it visit or buy. All grounded in an idea that resonates. It's what makes this business great.
To everyone who has touched Mintz & Hoke throughout the 40 year history - current employees, former employees, clients, friends and family - thank you. We couldn't have made it without you! All of you are part of the Mintz & Hoke brand and helped make 40 remarkable years a reality!
Keywords: Mintz & Hoke; Mintz & Hoke 40th Anniversary; Advertising Agency Longevity; Advertising Agency Business
Forty years, yikes. Not many agencies last that long. Great Blog! You've captured the essence of this agency in that it is really the people who have made it great in many ways (employees and clients). It's been a privilege to be part of that.
I am proud and blessed to be a part of this fine organization for 33 of those 40 years! People often question how I've stayed with one agency for so long. The answer is easy. I work with the greatest clients and most talented people in the business. Congrats M&H!
Bill: I'm proud to have been a part of Mintz & Hoke's legacy - first as an account executive in 1980, then someone in the later 80's who needed to hire smart people like you because of explosive growth. And today, as a client - go figure! Congrats on 40 years of smart strategies and great, results-driven creative.
I've had the pleasure of being part of this organization for two decades. This is an industry where you are supposed to move around to different agencies to further your career. But I found over the years that Mintz & Hoke met all of my personal and professional goals as a marketing communicator, and so I have stayed here. Hopefully my contributions have made a difference to my clients business and that I've had a positive impact on many of my colleagues who I have worked with at the agency.
Congratulations Mintz & Hoke. May your shingle still be hanging on the building long after I'm gone.
Congratulations, M&H!! I, too, am proud to have been part of it all. We always said, 'back in the day'....that our greatest asset at M&H was our people. Obviously that tradition continues! Great blog, Bill! You nailed it!
Wishing continued success for all!
Congrats guys! Bill - you shaped my career like nobody else; showing me how to apply marketing and social acumen to my lopsided sales mind. Those two years I spent working with you was an education. I wouldn't be half the marketeer and entrepreneur I am without your guidance! A big 'atta boy to you!
Congrats to you and the entire M&H family, Bill! Terrific blog and an incredible accomplishment!
My earliest memory of Mintz & Hoke was an awards show in Hartford in the late 70s when this new upstart agency walked away with all the statues. When I happily found myself working there in 1980, I felt like I'd just enrolled in a graduate studies program on Marketing Communications. It's never changed. If you have a thirst for knowledge, an insatiable curiosity, and a need for constant variety, this is your place.
It's a testament to the agency that over the years several employees (including me) left for what at the time seemed like better opportunities, but returned to Mintz & Hoke. We discovered that the combination of talented people (minus the ego), open and respectful culture and endless appetite for work that works is tough to match.
It's been my pleasure to have been a part of the Mintz & Hoke PR team starting in the mid-1990s. A great deal has changed since the dawn of digital PR, but I think we succeed because of the basics that Bill outlines - great people, great thinking.
Congrat's on 40 years - Alan & Joe started something that was right for all, employees, clients, family & friends, Bill - you and your agency are keeping that going strong. I too am proud to have been a part of the M&H team.
Every day I draw from lessons learned on Tower Lane. Congrats all!
Wow...40 years! I was the first receptionist when M&H moved from West Hartford some 35+ years ago. Of course I was 10 at the time but very mature for my age! . I wore many hats and loved all of them. It was a very exciting time and a true team of great people, which continues today. I am proud to say I was there early on...even before Pam.
When I joined UTC at Otis Elevator Company in 1984, Mintz & Hoke was the first agency I worked with. And shortly before I retired in 2002, Bill Field and I worked on a project for one of the business units. That says it all. At the risk of sounding Biblical, I suppose the first shall be last. Congratulations on a great run.
Congratulations on a significant milestone.
It was my pleasure and honor to be a small part of your history.
Happy 40th M&H!
I only spent 6 weeks with you all in 2007 - on exchange from Scotland - but it was a magical time - I smile when I think of M&H - I loved your people, your work and your agency!
Very best wishes.
MoiraX
One thing you didn't mention is that M&H has consistently hired people who are smart AND ethical. The agency's reputation is as good as it is because in 40 years, it has always tried to do the best work and the right thing. (If all companies did the same, we PR people would have a lot more time to play golf.) Joe and Alan set the standard, one I will always hold dear, and it's a tribute to the hundreds of people who followed them that it's been maintained all these years.
What a GREAT milestone and an impressive achievement! Mintz & Hike has always been the gold standard, the role model and the respected leader of the professional communications industry in Connecticut. For 40 years all of us in the business envied the talent, the work, the clients and the passion. To endure through economic, technological and societal change is nothing short of spectacular and inspiring. It is living proof that attending to quality and remaining true to your values is what unique greatness in this industry is all about. Such achievements are never easy. I was once told by a sagely member of our business that "Nothing great was ever accomplished by reasonable people." So it was, and still is with Mintz & Hoke. Kudos to Bill and the entire Mintz & Hoke team for never giving up on raising the bar and making us all better for it! You are the BEST! Congrats to all!
Isn't 40 the new 30? Happy Bday M&H!
Best company I have ever worked for. Are you hiring? Every day I tell my students about my years at M&H. Feliz Aniverzario from Puerto Rico....