Meet Our Sponsor Odato Marketing Group

“G-r-r-eat” and Always Getting Better

About Rich

“They’re G-r-r-eat!” “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin.” “You ate it, Ralph!” These classic lines from a golden age of advertising were among the first words spoken by a diaper-sporting toddler from

Rich Odato

Pittsburgh named Rich Odato. Rich’s parents say he loved to act out TV commercials in the living room, earning rave reviews from family and friends who were more than a little biased. His family didn’t quite know what to make of his performances, but they knew one thing: This kid loves advertising.

Rich says he’s just thankful that smartphone cameras and YouTube didn’t exist back then. His company, Odato Marketing Group, is a full-service advertising, PR, web, and video agency based in Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh. Odato Marketing is our chapter’s creative design sponsor and provides concepts, copy, design, and art files for our direct mail, print ads, and other materials.

Rich’s Role in AMA

Rich serves as our chapter’s outgoing VP of Sponsorships and incoming VP of our soon-to-be-created Education SIG. About volunteering with the AMA Rich says, “I’ve enjoyed my time working with the AMA Tampa Bay chapter board and committees. It’s a lot of work but it helps me stay engaged with what’s going on in the community. I’ve been able to collaborate and build valuable relationships with other business owners and principals in the Tampa Bay area, and I use much of what I’ve learned in my own business.”

Odato Marketing Group

He asked his team to take on the role of creative agency sponsor in order to help another sponsor, Genesis Direct, as well as the chapter, achieve a new standard of excellence with its four-color-variable direct mail. Four-color variable allows an exceptional level of personalization, which can be deeply integrated into the concept. His agency and Genesis have collaborated on such campaigns in the past, generating as many as 2,000 new patient inquires per week for a major healthcare client.

Rich Odato with Questeq leaders Ron and Jeff Main, Odato Marketing VP/GM Bruce Downing, and Questeq’s Kyli Yerse at AMA Pittsburgh’s Marketer of the Year awards.

“As much as we consider ourselves a digital-first agency, we have seen the power and effectiveness of personalized direct mail when it is done well,” he says.

Odato Marketing’s “digital-first” campaigns have earned it four consecutive “Marketer of the Year” awards from the AMA Pittsburgh chapter in the categories of consumer products, retail, manufacturing, and education. The agency’s 2013 entry, a case study in which the agency helped a 30-year-old education technology company double in size in one year, also earned it the coveted “Grand Marketer of the Year” designation that year among elite competition.

“We have earned many creative awards over the years,” Rich says. “But the ones that get our team really excited are the results-based awards such as those presented by the AMA.” Rich has been a driving force in efforts to bring a “Marketer of the Year” awards competition to AMA Tampa Bay. That event is in the early planning stages for February, 2016.

Odato Marketing Group also includes BoldVoice Digital, a content marketing boutique agency, and StudioSarasota, a video production brand for clients who don’t need agency services. You can learn more at www.odatomarketing.com, www.boldvoice.com and www.studiosarasota.com. Be sure to check out the websites, but please, don’t squeeze the Charmin.

Author

Rich Odato