“So, do you put these coupons here in the newspaper?”

I smiled at the question, and replied, “Well, sometimes, if it makes sense for the client.”

“And you do some stuff on the news, too?”

“I do.”

“I just don’t get it …”

My then-81-year-old grandmother and I sat at her kitchen table on a December morning, snacking on the candies she always kept in a glass dish, and chatting about what I do. The year was 2001, and Kolbeco was in its infancy. She knew Scott and I had started a company, but couldn’t quite grasp the details of what it all meant. She was truly interested, and continued her line of questioning, until, in her own way, she made some connection about it. We helped people find their story, and determined how to best tell that story.

As my grandma realized even back then, storytelling was at the heart of what we did. Allow me a moment to tell you a bit about my grandmother, as she had many stories of her own. See, her family came over from Germany to work for the Lemp Brewery in the early days. Grandma told many tales of growing up in those days, playing in the old mansion as a kid, and of times that Charlie Lemp would dress up in a cape and scare the little girls in the alleys. She went through prohibition as the daughter of a brewer, delivering beer in her wagon hidden under toys. Grandma grew up to marry an Irishman, have six kids, and return to her childhood home on Lemp Avenue to raise her family and live out her days. She was tough as nails, scared of ‘nuthin or nobody, and always spoke in quite colorful language.

As a storyteller, I find her experiences fascinating. As a kid, for a school project, I once recorded an interview with her on a cassette tape and wrote a paper about her life. Lord only knows where those items are today, but suffice it to say, I would have loved access to the tools we now have to capture her story and share it with new generations.

So here’s where we get back to the marketing part of the story … While we once lived in the world of cassette tape recordings and typewritten pages, we now live in an age where sharing stories takes a different path. And as we’ve transformed to that world, we at Kolbeco have always been quick to recognize new media, and determine how (if at all) to leverage it to tell those stories. We were among the first to embrace blogging back when sites like WordPress and Blogger were simple platforms. (Based on the little I’ve told you above, can you imagine the stories my grandmother could have shared with the world?) We saw, years ago, how powerful the creation of compelling content was. We noticed it wasn’t something that just lived online – it could build communities, attract the interest of traditional media, and be used as a springboard for events and experiences. It meant that we were becoming more than a PR agency, a marketing firm, an ad agency, or a web development company. Kolbeco was something different …

A Brand Media Company.

The concept is beautiful in its simplicity. We dig deep to get to the heart of who you are, crafting your story in a meaningful and engaging way. We think like a news outlet to deliver your story to the public – because that’s what’s happening, you are the news outlet. Your website is your broadcast platform. Your stories are distributed and syndicated in a variety of ways. Compelling stories gain traction, and the attention of traditional media. Your audience is engaged in ways it wasn’t before, while your authentic brand personality lives for all to see.

We are a Brand Media Company, empowering brands to live and engage by being their own media outlet. The new Kolbeco website is a direct reflection of that concept, where the content you’ll read throughout the site tells our brand story, inspires the audience to learn something new or try something they haven’t considered before. You get to know the humans behind the work while reading about what makes us tick, what we love, and what leads us to seek excellence. You’ll see the media attention we’ve earned, and how we’ve accomplished this whole Brand Media thing for clients. Our goal is to inspire your own sense of adventure, creativity, culture, community, big thinking, and industry know-how.

Consider the example of my grandmother. She had a very distinct, interesting, and relatable personal brand. A media platform would have allowed those stories to connect with more people and live much longer than she, herself, did. They could have created a community of those interested in the history she had to share, and may have grown into more opportunities to tell the stories. That’s what you want for your company’s brand, and that’s what we’re here to do.

What are your goals, and how can Kolbeco launch your brand as a media outlet? We look forward to helping you shine in the spotlight.