|
Thielen IdeaCorp Marks 40 Year Anniversary
Fresno’s Second Oldest Advertising Agency Started as a 1-Man Shop with 3 Clients
Today has 43 Clients, 32 employees, and $30 million in annual billings
FRESNO, CA – (October 29, 2008) — Thielen IdeaCorp, one of Fresno’s oldest and largest advertising agencies, celebrates its 40th anniversary this month with a look back at how much has changed in Fresno’s business world in the past four decades.
Mike Thielen, founder of the agency, started his business in October of 1968 as a one-man-shop with three clients: Lisle Funeral Home, The Ramada Inn, and United Glass, all of which are still in Fresno. Today, Thielen has 43 clients, employs a staff of 32, and has annual capitalized billings of more than $30 million. This year, Ad Age ranked Thielen as one of the top agencies in the U.S. for the 10th consecutive year.
As Thielen’s business expanded, he continually had to move to bigger offices and is now in his 6th office location in the past 40 years. With the recent acquisitions/partnerships with Charles Looney Advertising and Janzen IdeaCorp, there are now four generations of agency principals at Thielen IdeaCorp.
Thielen began as a one-man-shop in an 8x10 office on Blackstone and Gettysburg. At the time, Shaw Avenue was considered North Fresno, and the city ended at Barstow. To start his business, Thielen borrowed $5,000 from his brother-in-law, got a used desk, had his sister do the bookkeeping, and found a woman that would work for free for three months.
Originally from Iowa, Thielen was living in Chicago when the opportunity to move to Fresno came along. “I remember that it was a cold blustery day when a college buddy called me up and asked me how I’d like to move to California,” Thielen recalls. “I moved out here in January in the middle of a terrible fog season that lasted for 6 weeks. Every morning, I’d race to the window, look outside, and think, “What am I doing in Fresno?”
When Thielen opened up shop in Fresno, he was working with carbon paper and Selectra typewriters. But he says the most major change is that the age of technology has taken away a lot of the personal rapport in advertising. In addition, the style of advertising has also changed since there’s more competition now, and the Internet has allowed smaller companies to compete more readily at low costs.
Thielen isn’t letting the recent economic downturn bother him. “This is the fourth time that this has happened since I’ve been in business here,” says Thielen. “You just have to weather through it and watch your client’s dollar very carefully.”
About Thielen IdeaCorp
Thielen IdeaCorp is housed at Tulare and Van Ness, employs a staff of 32, and has been ranked in the Top 500 U.S. Agency Brands according to Ad Age Magazine. The agency represents clients in the gaming, entertainment, automotive, banking, medical, business-to-business, and real estate industries.
|
