On the eve of the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover famously promised “a chicken in every pot” in a campaign pledge that would capture the imagination of editorial cartoonists for years to come.
For his part, Dick Commer is offering to come up with a catchy slogan to get you through the next few months of the recession.
Commer, owner of The Ad Works Inc. in Westport, recently began offering advertising brainstorming services on a pro bono basis to members of the Westport/Weston Chamber of Commerce who might otherwise be unable to afford a vendor given tight budget constraints.
After getting more than a dozen takers in Westport, Commer recently expanded the offer to members of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, of which he is also a member.
Commer has long been a sucker for a punchy line ”“ his father was a childhood friend of Walt Disney, and today the walls of Commer”™s home office are decorated with collector cartoons from Disney, Charles M. Schulz and other influential cartoonists.
Commer has focused his agency on serving small businesses and retailers, both in terms of brainstorming full campaigns from a corporate slogan to point-of-purchase displays; to “copy to go” ad writing services for one-time runs.
Among others, The Ad Works customers have included Parc Monceau Country French Antiques in Westport (“It”™s cherry picking time at Parc Monceau”) and Harder Extermination Service on Long Island, N.Y. (“When you think of termites, think Harder”).
Commer said he responded to a request for pro-bono services issued by the Westport/Weston Chamber of Commerce, subsequently taking the idea to the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. In times of financial stress, he said, businesses often cut ad budgets at the very moment when it is critical they keep their name and image “right smack in front of the public,” in his words.
“It just came to the point where the (chamber) was asking for people to help, and I said to myself, ”˜What can I do to help?”™” Commer said.
His is not the only organization to step up to assist other businesses. Through the Fairfield chamber, Splash Car Wash is reserving space on its Web site without charge for members to advertise special offers (Splash hopes to generate good will that might lead to more car washes there). And the Westport Country Playhouse is letting a group of Westport merchants use its facility for meetings of their “Locals for Locals” group, which itself exists to bring members together to brainstorm ways to overcome hurdles they encounter and lend each other support.
Of course, several resources already exist for business people seeking free advice for running their companies in good times and bad. Fairfield County SCORE, an acronym for Service Corps of Retired Executives, covers Westport and Weston from its office at 24 Belden Ave. in Norwalk. SCORE offers free one-on-one counseling and charges a $25 fee for most workshops ”“ its next seminar is scheduled for July 15 at the University of Connecticut Stamford, covering how to buy or sell a business.
The Small Business Administration operates a branch of its Small Business Development Center on the Danbury campus of Western Connecticut State University, and also provides many free services from its main SBA office in Hartford.
Commer said he is getting the sense that business prospects are finally improving.
“The black cloud up above ”“ it”™s more gray now,” Commer said. “Where you saw store vacancy signs, amazingly other stores have popped up in some of these places. That takes a lot of guts in this economy.”
