Through a happy accident of geography, our first building products client, the Darworth Company, was right next door to the agency. Of course we still had to compete for the account, but undoubtedly travel expenses played a part.

The campaigns we ran from Cuprinol Stain and Wood Preservatives and Polyseamseal achieved legendary results, including the sale of the company to Sherwin-Williams, upon which, Olympic Stain hired us, saying, "We're tired of you guys kicking our butts in New England. We'd much rather have you on our side."

The experience we gained working with these clients, however, was priceless. We learned not just how to dig out the underlying motivations behind consumer purchase decisions (i.e., "If you tell me you make the job easy I won't buy it. If you say you make it easier, I will…") we acquired a graduate school-level education in the distribution channel and the critical role it plays with any consumer product.

Along with what we learned working in other categories, this experience led to our specializing in what we coined, B2CH, Business to Channel Communications.

Since then, Mintz & Hoke has developed campaigns for electrical cable and wiring, windows, siding, roofing, wood putty, adhesive caulks, paint and even kits for building log homes. So look around your own home. Chances are good that you're living with a product Mintz & Hoke helped navigate through the Channel and all the way into your house.