This is Morning Walk
Jacobson/Rost Rebrands as Morning Walk: A Performance Branding Company
Reinvented agency to build on past decades of success with energized mission and values
Jacobson/Rost, a leading full-service marketing agency with offices in Chicago and Milwaukee, today announced its rebranding to Morning Walk: A Performance Branding Company.
Founded in 1957 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Jacobson/Rost has built a reputation for delivering innovative and successful marketing strategies to its clients. Over the decades the company moved to Chicago and Milwaukee and has worked with dozens of marquee clients primarily in the hospitality, automotive aftermarket, CPG, fintech and spirits industries such as Molson Coors, Leinenkugel’s, Bardstown Bourbon Company, OtterBox, Rivian, Conagra Foods, Potbelly Sandwiches, OPTIMA Batteries, Masonite Doors, BOSS Snowplows and Kalahari Resorts & Conventions.
The rebranding also marks a shift in ownership, as Pat Goggin, Partner and Chief Executive Officer, and Steve Simoncic, Partner and Chief Creative Officer, have purchased previous owner Jerry Flemma’s shares in the company. Flemma is now retired. “We all wish Jerry the best as he moves into the next chapter of his life.” Goggin and Simoncic seek to invigorate the agency’s approach as Morning Walk, with the feeling of starting each day with purpose, curiosity and a readiness to explore new possibilities.
The name ‘Morning Walk’ represents our values of optimism, energy and forward motion,” explained Goggin. “Interestingly, a Stanford study found that creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when a person is walking versus sitting. And walking has been a part of our creative process over the years.”
Morning Walk is working to become a leader in “Performance Branding” — a data and technology-led marketing approach that combines the emotion of branding with the conversions of performance marketing.
“Our mission is to create healthy performance branding ecosystems that fuel business growth,” Simoncic added.
Performance Branding discovers a brand’s commercial, functional, and emotional purpose, which inspires an organizing idea that leads experience activation and performance marketing to drive conversions and lead to growth.
Goggin continued, “We believe that brands increasingly need to behave like Ecosystem Brands — think Netflix and Amazon — where data based on consumer behavior leads to recommendations for new products and services. And companies own and leverage their customers’ data versus solely renting from media conglomerates.”
“Since implementing Performance Branding as our North Star about 18 months ago and focusing on our people and community, the company has grown 35 percent through a combination of organic and new clients,” Goggin stated. “As we continue to grow, we look forward to adding expert talent to the agency focusing on the areas of performance marketing, creative content, production, UI/UX, data and analytics, public relations and social media.”
“We have created and are growing a ‘Super: Human’ lab that supercharges brands with a wide suite of AI tools that accelerate performance, discover audience sentiment, connect through purpose, fuel creativity, personalize brand experience, deliver performance content, and optimize brand performance,” Simoncic explained. “We are building a strong community where people can do their best work and grow and are dedicated and eager to become an active and present contributor in the advertising and marketing industries in Milwaukee, Chicago and nationally.”
In addition to local, regional, and national communities, the rebranded company has made a global philanthropic commitment. Morning Walk, in partnership with long-standing client, Kalahari Resorts as well as charity: water, recently donated funds to bring clean, safe drinking water and sanitation services to a school in Malawi.
“Many of our clients have walked alongside us for over two decades. We are extremely grateful for the opportunities and trust they have provided us,” Goggin stated. “Additionally, we have been incredibly fortunate to walk on this journey with an energetic, thoughtful, and optimistic leadership team who are working to build a true community at Morning Walk. We quite literally would not exist without our awesome clients and amazing team.”
To learn more about Morning Walk: A Performance Branding Company, performance branding ecosystems, and the company’s work, visit morningwalkusa.com.
Media Contact: Sara Hood, VP – Director of Public Relations
Cell (call or text): (262) 716-1928
Email: shood@morningwalkusa.com
About Morning Walk: A Performance Branding Company
Creating healthy Performance Branding Ecosystems that fuel business growth, Morning Walk is a performance branding company built for a constantly changing world. With offices in Chicago and Milwaukee, Morning Walk is a community of creative, design, production, media, analytics, public relations, and account management experts that believe deeply in the power of forward motion, optimism and generating positive energy to fuel brands with purpose-led growth, experiential design and performance marketing. Let's walk. Learn more at morningwalkusa.com and follow our progress on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram @morningwalkusa.
