The five life-style magazines
published by Advertising Concepts, Inc.; West
End’s Best, Chesterfield
Living, Hanover
Lifestyle, Heritage
Rivers, and the new River City Richmond present a refreshing,
positive view of what’s going on in both
of the area’s most prestigious urban communities,
as well as all that the entire area, including
downtown Richmond, has to offer.
The Shopper’s Express mailers, published by Advertising Concepts, Inc.,
offers businesses one of the most cost effective means of reaching potential
customers throughout the Richmond area.
We are also the publishers of many Specialty
Publications, including the chamber
directories for: Chesterfield, Hanover/Ashland, Hopewell/Prince George, and the
Richmond Association of Realtors Guide.
At Advertising Concepts, Inc, we’re proud of all of our publications, but
we’re most proud of our commitment to customer service. Whether you’re
a reader of our magazines, a consumer who looks forward to our money-saving mailers,
or a business owner seeking to reach prospective customers, at a reasonable price,
we appreciate the fact that you are the cornerstones of our business. We welcome
each and every opportunity you allow us to serve you. |
 When
Billy Davis, along with his wife, Cheryl, began
producing coupon mailers out of a make-shift
graphics studio in their garage fifteen years
ago, they had little idea where their entrepreneurial
endeavors might lead. And while the Davis’ family-operated
business, Advertising Concepts, Inc. (ACI), continues
to produce direct response advertising mailers,
reaching over 300,000 homes in the Richmond area
each month, the company has become better known
as the publishers of the publication, West End’s
Best Magazine, as well as a similar magazine on
the other side of the river, Chesterfield Living.
What makes these two magazines unique, according
to Davis, is their focus on reaching a target market
in very specific regions of the metropolitan area,
rather than trying to be all things to everyone.
In 2007 ACI has ambitious plans to begin publishing
as many as four additional targeted, lifestyle
magazines. “Hanover Lifestyle will be our
first new magazine in over five years,” Davis
says. That publication is slated to premier during
the first half of 2007. Davis says another magazine,
aimed at the Tri-Cities area, will follow Hanover
Lifestyle, and hints that other sections of Central
Virginia could be seeing similar publications shortly
thereafter.
Davis says that what truly makes his publications
unique is the distribution method. “These
are really very unique direct mail pieces,” he
says. “We choose our readers.” Prior
to the fall of 2005, the magazines were strictly
available at pick-up racks strategically located
throughout their respective areas. Since that time,
however, more than 20,000 of each issue (25,000
total distribution per issue) have been directly
mailed to area homeowners who meet specific demographic
criteria.
Davis says the change in distribution has resulted
in significantly improved results for the advertisers. “Many
of clients have told us,” he says, “that
nothing works for them like (our magazines).”
Davis also feels the magazines are designed to
fit the lifestyle of today’s busy homeowners. “The
articles are short…the magazine is an easy
read,” he says. “The response has been
nothing but positive.”
One of the more popular features of ACI-produced
magazines is the extensive dining and entertainment
guide, which beginning with the March/April issues
will be expanded and renamed, FLAVOR – A
Taste of the Good Life.
Besides publishing direct response pieces and the
lifestyle magazines, ACI also has another division
which specializes in producing membership guides
for area Chambers of Commerce and other associations.
A first-ever membership directory for the Richmond
Association of REALTORS®, is the latest such
publication in that genre. “We can produce
high-quality, full-color directories,” Davis
says, “at absolutely no cost to the association
or chamber.”
Reflecting back on the humble beginnings of ACI,
Davis recalls the days when he would do all the
advertising sales during the day, and Cheryl would
work late into the evening laying out the graphics
for the publications. In those early days, the
couple’s two children wanted to help Mom
and Dad in their endeavors. And, today, both Davis
children, a son (17) and daughter (21) have positions
in the company…a company that has grown
from two to twelve employees. Davis says that with
the direction in which ACI is going, he would like
to add two to three sales persons to the staff.
As a reflection of the continued growth, Davis
says ACI will be moving into a newer, larger facility
within the next few months. “We also have
some other ideas (in advertising) that we will
be able to pursue once we’re in a larger
facility.”
Advertising Concepts has earned a reputation, Davis
says, for “under-promising and over-delivering.
When our clients think ‘A – C – I,’ we
want them to think, ‘Attitude, Creativity,
and Integrity.”
|
