Dream. Believe. Achieve.
Post No Bills goes to Hollywood, Summer Olympics in Beijing
By Lisa Lopez Snyder, Contributing Writer Photography by Jeff Smith
Doreen Sullivan apologizes for being just a few minutes late to the interview, and as she eases herself into a seat at Starbucks in the heart of Columbia's bustling Congaree Vista, it's clear this businesswoman has a contagious energy.
She gives a warm hello and in the same breath starts to describe her company's latest project launch - a set of silicone bracelets called the Official U.S. Olympic Team Rings. She leans over and says, "Think 'the next Lance Armstrong cause awareness piece."
"Here, check it out." Sullivan places on the table an item wrapped in plastic with a blazing torch hangtag. Inside is a wristband set, one each of red, white and blue. They read, "Dream," "Believe" and "Achieve" in English, Chinese and Greek. A shiny silver clasp that holds them together carries the official USA five rings Olympic logo and the phrase "amazing awaits." The other side has "Beijing 08-08-08," the location of the Summer Games and the date of the opening ceremonies.
In early 2008, Sullivan's company, Post No Bills, partnered with the U.S. Olympic Committee to help raise awareness and funding for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams, collectively called Team USA. The final product: the Official U.S. Olympic Team Rings.
The rings sell for $4.95 for the set, and one dollar from each sale goes to the U.S. Olympic Committee; if the purchase is made at the official Web site, another dollar goes to the buyer's team of choice. Schools, charitable organizations and student sports teams can also buy the Olympic Team Rings to sell as fundraisers for their organizations.
Sullivan and several members of her staff rolled out the Team Rings at the Olympic Media summit in Chicago, where more than 100 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and 500 members of the media gathered this spring for news conferences and interviews.
"We made our presentation and gave the rings to everybody," Sullivan says. "The thing that was so exciting was that everyone was wearing them.
"All the media were there," she says, "as were all the corporate partners." She rattles off the names and laughs. "Companies such as Hilton, Allstate, Nikeー and then there was me."
Creating a buzz
Within the first 30 seconds of meeting Sullivan, you surmise she's not a Carolina gal by birth: Her sentences come at breakneck speed, her hands gesture emphasis on nearly every word.
But then you realize Sullivan's energy is a reflection of her passion for her business, this state and the many ways the region has fueled her success. "Local talent," "weather" and "loyalty" are a few reasons that spill forth.
Just around the corner from the coffee shop is the home base for Post No Bills, her marketing, merchandising and product development company, which in 2007 celebrated two decades in business. There, in an innovatively styled loft, an 11-person creative team of multimedia experts, Web designers, copywriters and research associates designs products not only for South Carolina's most successful companies, but also for some of the biggest A-list clients in the entertainment industry, including DreamWorks, Paramount, Universal Studios, Cartoon Network and AMC.
Inside the colorful, 4,500-square-foot office at Gervais and Gadsden streets lies an armament of items designed to create media buzz around movies such as Curious George, Shrek, Shark Tale, Almost Famous, The Bourne Supremacy and Bee Movie. Casually dressed staff members glide in and out of one another's offices, collaborating on multiple projects. The detailed attention given to each project has earned the company a lasting clientele and, in 2007, it garnered the company seven ADDY Awards, the advertising industry's most prestigious recognition of creative excellence. The company does exhaustive research - such as testing materials for packing and mailing or finding the perfect ceramic egg to create, design, test and market a product. Once the researchers, writers, multimedia designers and a fulfilment staff have done their jobs, the product makes its way from Post No Bills to media nationwide.
Take the promotion of the Curious George DVD: Post No Bills used a large box to pack a copy of the movie and a big yellow foam hat to which was tied helium-filled balloons. When reporters opened the box, the helium balloons emerged with the yellow hat and the movie title and release date. For Chicken Run, Post No Bills decorated 12 ceramic eggs with a character from the movie. Targeted media received a Chicken Run egg carton containing one egg from the set. Each month leading up to the movie's release, Post No Bills sent a different character egg, so eventually the carton contained the full set.
This approach, known in the industry as "creative sequential promotion," is what distinguishes Post No Bills, Sullivan says.
From California to Columbia
So who is this creative, energetic talent, and how did she land in Columbia?
Her road here was anything but conventional, and Sullivan's first Hollywood "gig" was not as glamorous as one might imagine. Sullivan, a California native, dropped out of high school to help her father build sets for the film industry. That often meant spending time pulling weeds to improve a set's appear- ance. She eventually went back to high school and then on to college, and, in 1986, she earned her bachelor of arts in theatre from the University of California-Los Angeles. After graduation, Sullivan left for New York and launched Post No Bills in 1987 with $5,000.
She got the name for her company from the spray-painted signs she saw throughout New York that were meant to discourage people from posting unwanted flyers and posters on construction walls and other surfaces.
"I thought, 'Hey, what the heck - imagine the free advertising!"
Between 1987 and 1991, the company focused primarily on the music industry, helping to promote developing artists. Early client work included promoting artists for RCA and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. She went on to promote the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Melissa Etheridge and Miles Davis, to name a few.
In 1991, Sullivan moved to South Carolina, where she would eventually meet her future husband and start a family. At the time, she was relishing the thought of a slower pace, but her clients soon found her. In 1992, Paramount Pictures hired Post No Bills to promote the movie Milk Money, and a wave of promotions for hundreds of block- buster films followed: The First Wives Club, American Beauty, Almost Famous, Shrek, Chicken Run and, recently, Bee Movie, Distur- bia, Kung Fu Panda and Tropic Thunder.
Sullivan opened the Post No Bills office in the Vista, one of the city's most vibrant arts, din- ing and entertainment districts, in 2003. She found Columbia's small urban environment an attractive place to locate.
"My heart is in this community," she says. "You get a lot of support in a smaller city like Columbia."
Sullivan is also proud of the companies she serves who are either based in South Carolina or who have a facility in the state. The company has done promotional work for BlueCross BlueShield, Colonial Life Insurance, Michelin, the United Way and Wachovia. Post No Bills also designed an online career search service called USC Job- Mate for the University of South Carolina Career Center.
Sullivan uses local suppliers as much as possible. For the movie Milk Money, she hired North Charleston-based Coburg Dairy to produce the milk cartons that Post No Bills designed. Last year, the company paid more than $300,000 for printing services from local printers.
Tapping local talent
More than anything, Sullivan says she's proud of the talent she finds in South Carolina. She often speaks at career fairs and at journalism and business schools.
Many Post No Bills staff members were recruited initially as interns from the University of South Carolina. Four have stayed on full time, and 12 have gone on to jobs in the entertainment or marketing industries.
The company is known for having students work on projects from Day 1, setting expectations and challenging them with major client work.
"When we work with students, we don't say to them, 'Here, follow me,' Sullivan says. "We'll say, 'Here, I need an idea for this script by 4. We'll throw them right in, and quite often they're surprised how many opportunities they have to work on major properties."
One employee, Ben Burns, now a full-time staff graphic designer, came in as an intern to support the art department. He was assigned to put together a media kit for the movie Evan Almighty. The kit, which featured a fold- together ark, won an ADDY Award.
Janna McMahan, a copywriter and media contact for Post No Bills, says Sullivan has a gift for identifying and trusting people's strengths, then challenging them to step up to their highest potential in the most creative way possible.
"I've worked at other advertising agencies, but I've never worked anywhere else where I've felt as free to be as creative as I can be," says McMahan, who is also a published author. In some industries, she notes, you have to be "in the club" to be given a chance. "But here, we only care if you have the next great idea. That's refreshing."
Sullivan offers flexible work schedules and lets employees bring their children to the workplace or work from home when they need to. It's an environment Sullivan believes creates success for her employees and, in turn, can make good things happen for Post No Bills suppliers and clients in the state, she says.
"There are so many successful stories and great things happening in the state that we can focus on," Sullivan says. She cites Innovista一 the development for business, research, residences and recreation一 and the need to market Columbia as a vibrant place to live, work and play, as examples of opportunities.
"At the end of the day," she says, "what are you going to do if you can't help people along in their lives?"
