Searching for Talent, Organic Opens Chicago Office

Digital marketing agency Organic has opened a Chicago office to recruit additional creative talent to its staff and support its Midwest clients.

The agency expects the new office will help in the recruitment of creative talent from the region, especially people not interested in relocating to other cities, said Chuck Russo, Organic’s chief client development officer and the Chicago office’s managing director. The office’s official opening is today.

“The whole idea was really to look at various markets around the U.S. where we felt there were pockets of great talent to [accommodate] some of our client needs around the Organic network,” Russo said.

Organic, which is based in San Francisco, has satellite offices in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto. Initially, the Chicago office will be considered an extension of the Detroit site. The Chicago office will initially work primarily on Organic’s Chrysler account, and is located in the BBDO Worldwide office in the Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue.

“We have a great talent pool here in Detroit as well as our other offices, but there is a constant need to bring fresh skills and talent into our business model,” he said.

Russo stressed, although both Organic and BBDO are Omnicom companies, and will collaborate on projects when necessary, “We’re not going into this specifically aligned with them to service their existing client base.” Rather, the agency intends to extend the Organic brand in Chicago.

Organic held a recruitment event in the Windy City earlier this year to assess the region’s talent and judge the awareness of the Organic brand, Russo said. The results clearly impressed Organic management. Following that event, the agency hired seven executives, out of a planned 10, to staff the office.

Sam Cannon, executive creative director for the Organic Detroit office, said the hiring drive is a direct response to growing client expectations as the digital advertising market matures.

“We’re looking into as many markets as we can to find great talent,” Cannon said. “We’re hiring, especially in Chicago. We’ve found some good talent and we’re looking for more.”