ZLRIGNITION has promoted Nick Grant and Sara Horstmann to Account Manager.

Grant joined ZLRIGNITION in 2007 as an account- and street marketing coordinator and has played a vital role in managing special events and activities for Just Eliminate Lies, (JEL), Iowa’s teen-led tobacco counter marketing group.

A native of Washington, D.C., Grant holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Drake University, where he also was co-captain of Drake’s 2006-2007 men’s basketball team.

“Nick will continue to play a critical role in helping our clients’ engage teens and young adults, and in utilizing social media to help clients achieve their communications and marketing objectives,” says Louie Laurent, president and CEO.

Horstmann joined ZLRIGNITION in 2008 as a media planner and buyer. Before joining the agency, Horstmann worked at Heartland Financial USA, Inc. where she coordinated major marketing projects including special events and media buying.

“Sara brings a sharp focus on producing results that meet or exceed client expectations. She is a valuable addition to our account service team,” adds Laurent.

Horstmann, who resides in Urbandale, holds a bachelor’s degree in art & design from Iowa State University.

A local business publication conducted a panel discussion about the economy last night.  They assembled a panel of economic experts to give the attendees a perspective on the economy.

Here’s the news flash.  It didn’t sound as bad as the newspapers make it out to be.  The experts expect the recovery to start in the third quarter of 2009 and continue into 2010.  They went on to say that the Midwest is in far better shape than either of the coasts.  Iowa’s unemployment is 4.3%.  Certainly we’ve lost some jobs, but the housing boom didn’t hit us and the housing bust hasn’t really hit us.

So why do the newspapers, and all media for that matter report such dire news on a continuing basis?  Well, if you think about it, the Des Moines Register has laid off people, the Minneapolis Tribune has filed for bankruptcy, the Chicago Tribune is in big trouble as is the New York Times.  Maybe subconsciously they don’t want to feel alone in their misery.

And it’s working.  I spoke with an architect friend who said that he had a couple of major projects on hold because his client said they thought going forward would look bad.  Look bad?  A successful company being successful looks bad?  Wouldn’t their customers be more confident in the stability of the company to see them building and expanding?  Wouldn’t their customers feel better about doing business with them because they were successful?

There is good news in the economy.  IBM’s earnings are up 12% without resorting to layoffs, downsizing or government bailouts.  Just running a company well.  And they are not apologizing for their success.

Warren Buffet says this is a “fear based economic climate.”  Who created the fear?  The media? The politicians?  Who?

My advice to the media to increase ad revenues is simple, publish the positive economic news too.  If confidence increases, maybe marketers will see clear to invest in their companies and advertise in your medium.

My advice to marketers is don’t believe all the hype.  Do business.  Invest.  Grab share.  And don’t under any circumstances be embarrassed about your success and  worry about what people will think.  They’ll think you have outsmarted everybody else.

John Deere Credit Golf & Turf Division came to us with an opportunity to get our creative juices flowing. Their goal for us to achieve was pretty basic; increase JDC’s recognition among golf course superintendents and engage the sales channel in the process. We couldn’t have had more fun with this golden nugget.

All it took was some publicity-hungry superintendents who like to show off their handiwork.

We knew from personal experience that golf course supers loved to hear, “man that course ate my lunch.” We knew they loved to make our pastime beautifully brutal. So the “18 Most Beautifully Brutal Golf Holes” contest was born.

We received hundreds of entries and a lot of media attention for John Deere Credit. Winners of the contest were featured in a beautiful calendar, posters and trade show displays. And all entries were featured on JDC’s website.

The only unfortunate thing is that we can’t play all of those Beautifully Brutal courses.