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Designed for Success
August 15-21, 2000
 Everyone has heard the inspiring tale of the successful entrepreneur who began his or her business from a garage. Debra Taeschler, President of Chester-based Gráfica, Inc., relates a similar story about her marketing and communications agency. She knows where they're coming from, as she describes the rather bleak surroundings of her company's first office in her basement.
Today, Gráfica has grown to become a major player in the integrated marketing and communications field. The agency now occupies three separate offices in Chester. Its work includes print and television spots, Internet site design, corporate public relations work, and direct marketing and database services.
From Lucent Technologies to Rutgers-Newark Honors College, Gráfica's client list is a diverse group of high-profile corporations, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions. Taeschler says that she prefers to work with a vast array of companies, adding, "You can become quite myopic working with just one industry."
In January, the agency won the corporate public relations account for Coldwell Banker Commercial. Taeschler is also spearheading the redesign of the commercial real estate company's Web site. In April, Gráfica launched the new television ad campaign for the New Jersey Lottery, featuring the slogan, "For Every Dream, There's A Jackpot." The $1.6 million TV campaign features a theme song sung by well-known entertainer Ray Charles.
After watching how technology was changing the marketing and communications industry, Taeschler decided to start her own agency. In 1986, she took out a second mortgage on her home to begin Gráfica. "I really wanted the autonomy," she says. Prior to that, she had held a number of positions on the creative, account management, and production sides of the business. With a B.A. in Fine Arts from Rutgers University-Newark and an M.A. in Graphic Arts Management from New York University, Taeschler began her advertising career as a mechanical artist. Immediately prior to forming Gráfica, she worked as the advertising coordinator for New York City's McCaffrey and McCall.
Gráfica's first account, AT&T International, was a golden opportunity for the fledgling agency. "We honed our abilities by working on this account," says Taeschler. The agency provided an integrated advertising campaign for AT&T International, including direct marketing and sales training materials. In the process of capturing the business of such a high-profile client, Gráfica competed head-to-head with some of the largest advertising and marketing agencies in the country.
Because of the growing demand for Web-related services from clients, the company, in 1989, created GráficaInter.active. By 1996, it had become a separate business unit, offering Web site design, site maintenance, and online media buying. Last year, Adweek Online selected Gráfica as one of the top 100 interactive advertising agencies in the U.S. "The future is truly the merging of technology and communication," says Taeschler. In an effort to round out the company's integrated marketing services, Gráfica began to handle online and traditional pubic relations work in 1999.
Taeschler's original gamble is certainly paying off. The agency has expanded from an original staff of three to 72, and its capitalized billings have grown from $18,250,000 in 1995 to $58,289,500 in 1999.
Along with the financial rewards, Gráfica has racked up a growing list of professional honors. By 1999, the company had received over 154 industry awards. Last year, it won one the BIZI awards for the best Web sites in the Garden State. GráficaInter.active was also selected as one of the award recipients for its creation of the compendium Web site to the PBS television special, "Women Working 2000 and Beyond."
According to Tom Cowherd, Director of Residential Marketing for Edison-based Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), Gráfica has struck the right balance between creative work and business-savvy marketing. Says Taeschler: "Advertising is truly a combination of strategy and creativity." Gráfica handles direct marketing for PSEG's appliance service contract business.
Cowherd adds: "There's an extraordinary attention paid to the details of our business." He cites the recent changes in the public utility industry post-deregulation. Despite the often-confusing legal environment, Cowherd says Gráfica kept abreast of the affects on the energy industry. In turn, he says, Taeschler and her employees were able to create a cogent and successful advertising campaign for PSEG.
Taeschler says that the Internet will be propelling her industry in new directions. "The Internet has made everything very customer-centric," she says. Because of the Web and changing technology, customer relationship management has become the overwhelming concern in advertising today. Gráfica is concentrating its business on that, using database technology to apply a client's customer information in a more directed, personalized, and efficient manner. Says Taeschler: "Advertising today simply has to be smarter."
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