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Part 3
8. Who is Fred Riger?
9. Who is Riger Advertising these days?
10. What is Riger’s definition of "Effective?"
11. What makes Riger tick?
12. How is my account team structured?
13. How do you charge for your services?
14. Where do I start?

8. Who is Fred Riger?

Founder. Leader. Mentor. Friend.

Fredrick R. Riger (1915–1994) performed all of these roles during his long and distinguished career as president of Fred Riger Advertising Agency, Inc. A battle-tested bomber pilot who flew dozens of combat missions during WWII, Fred left a good public relations job in New York City in 1950 to return to his home town and undertake the sizable challenge of starting his own advertising agency. Together with his wife Martha, who served as the agency’s office manager/bookkeeper, he met that challenge daily for the next 34 years, until his retirement in 1984. Along the way, he displayed a unique blend of optimism, realism, creativity, and discipline that set the standard for his colleagues to attempt to emulate. That standard is Fred’s legacy, and while the nature of our business seems to change on a daily basis, his guiding principles remain at the heart of everything we do on behalf of our clients.

9. Who is Riger Advertising these days?

Three attributes shape today’s Riger persona:

  - A pair of ears that will listen. Ask our clients; they’ll
  - tell you: we are "Responsive."
  - A head and heart for good advertising. Riger clients
  - have access to our full palette, poised to produce
    award-winning creative in any media. Advertising
    awards and client kudos confirm it: we are "Creative."
  - An ever watchful eye on results. For over 50 years,
  - we’ve satisfied customers. But each day is a fresh
  - opportunity to produce work that gets paid the highest
  - praise of all: Riger is "Effective."

10. What is Riger’s definition of "Effective?"
Effective work is work that makes things happen. It does more than get noticed; it makes the market say "Wow!" It does more than create awareness, interest, conviction and action; it builds a brand of distinction. It does more than persuade; it sells.

11. What makes Riger tick?
No surprise here—it’s our people. Let’s just say today’s Riger is a tightly knit bunch of loosely wound advertising professionals working side-by-side for the betterment of our clients’ businesses and the improvement of our lots in life…one project at a time…one day at a time.

Every day, we simply give you our very best. And in our business, it's all about The Work: creating professional, effective marketing by knowing our clients' business and by being the most Responsive, Creative and Effective team we can be on their behalf. It—The Work—is not just what we do each day. It defines who we are.

As product life cycles shorten, and brand cycles lengthen, we make it our business to find ways to clearly differentiate your product or service and help you build equity in your brand.

12. How is my account team structured?
Again, it’s not magic. Just uncommon sense. We surround each project with a multidisciplinary team consisting of just enough people to get the job done. Need media expertise? You’ve got it. Need a speech? Got it. Marketing strategist? Check. Web design? Got it. Need TV creative? It’s all right here.

We also recognize that there are times when we won’t have every resource you need under our roof. That’s when we bring in the hired guns. Maybe your project calls for audio production. Or a good short-run printer. Maybe what you really need is a science fiction writer. Or perhaps you need a medical illustration in a very specific style. Or a hand model for a photo shoot. With over 50 years of experience and literally hundreds of contacts in the business, our network of talent, freelancers, photographers, programmers, etc. is a real resource to our clients. So don’t rule anything out before you ask. Whether we act as your general contractor, or simply provide a quality referral, your needs drive the mix. Because part of being responsive is being flexible. Part of being creative is accomplishing more with less. And part of being effective is knowing something about everything and everything about something.

13. How do you charge for your services?
Like any business, we make money by satisfying a need. The actual methods by which we are compensated vary depending on our business relationship with any given client. Often, we begin working with someone on a project basis—specific work for a set price. As more and more of the agency’s services (e.g, public relations or media analysis/planning/buying) come into play, the nature of our relationship often grows into a fee-for-service model in which the agency is paid on an hourly basis. Or, in cases where we and the client agree there’s a good fit with long-term potential (and we want to make it even better), we’ll prepare a letter of agreement that spells out all the terms of the relationship. This agreement may include a monthly retainer fee. The benefit of this arrangement is much like that of having a utility’s budget plan: you know exactly how much is budgeted each month for those services.

At the end of the day, whether we're compensated on a project, or hourly basis, through media commissions or through a retainer, the acid test is simple: if you feel you got what you paid for, the compensation arrangement is working. In order to have the kind of client relationships we do (the kind measured in decades, not just years), Riger's experience and success lies in providing good performance for good value.

14. Where do I start?
Ask us: call 607-723-7441, or e-mail us.

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