Pinckney Hugo marks 10 years of double-digit growth

How does a company get listed on the Inc. 5000 list six years in a row?

For the Syracuse–based marketing-communications firm Pinckney Hugo Group (PHG), LLC, the answer is to post average annual, compounded revenue growth of 25 percent to 30 percent. 

“Capitalized billings are now $38 million with gross revenues running at $15 million in 2012,” according to Douglas (Doug) Pinckney, company president. PHG now employs 45 people, up from the original six and an increase of 10 employees in just the last year, he adds.

PHG is a full-service, marketing-communications agency providing strategic solutions for clients in a broad range of industries. The firm offers clients strategic planning, creative design, research, direct-marketing, media placement, public relations, social media, and video production.

The three corporate principals are Doug Pinckney (48), president; Christopher Pinckney (45), executive creative director; and Aaron Hugo (36), executive vice president. Key staff also includes Kathi Brogan, vice president of media services; Colleen O’Mara, director of public relations; Cathy Van Order, director of production services; and Adam Jwaskiewicz, director of interactive services.

Recounting the firm’s history, Doug Pinckney says, “[The] agency was founded in 1940 as the Spitz Agency and later sold to Mike Siano, who renamed it Siano-Spitz … We [the three principals] purchased the agency in 2002.” 

PHG outgrew its original location and purchased a former warehouse at 760 W. Genesee St. in downtown Syracuse. The agency currently occupies 20,000 square feet of the 36,000-square-foot structure, having expanding four times since occupying the building. No other tenant is in the structure. The three principals formed a real-estate company called PH Crane, LLC, which owns the building. The property is currently assessed at $480,000, with a full market value of $568,047, according to City of Syracuse online property-tax records. PH Crane bought the structure for $350,000 in December 2005. The previous owner was Marnandi Realty Corp.

Doug Pinckney ascribes his success to what some call the Satchel Paige school of management. Paige, a legendary baseball player, was quoted as saying “I’m always looking over my shoulder to see who’s gaining on me.” Pinckney paraphrased Paige by saying, he “runs scared, preferring to focus on keeping the client happy. As a buyer of advertising services for many years, sitting on the other side of the table, I saw too many agencies become complacent. I want us [the agency] to stay hungry.” Consequently, PHG eschews long-term contracts and most retainers.

Pinckney also attributes the firm’s sustained growth to a laser-like focus on talent. Attracting outstanding talent to Central New York is problematic, with the best results coming from those who already have a tie to the region. He estimates that half of the current staff left the region and returned to escape the high costs and pressures of major metropolitan areas and to raise families. “There are times we hire staff even when there isn’t a position, anticipating we will generate the business to support the talent,” he says. “Now that we have become one of the top local firms, we are drawing a number of résumés, which makes recruiting and retention [a little] easier … I also think there has been a renaissance in Syracuse that is helping our efforts.” 

The principals at PHG show no signs they will slow down after celebrating the agency’s 10th anniversary in September. Except for a small mortgage on the building at 760 W. Genesee St., the company is debt-free and funding its growth from cash flow. While PHG isn’t focused on whether the company will make the Inc.–5000 list next year, past performance and the company focus suggest the agency will stay on the fast track for sustained growth.       

Contact Poltenson at 

npoltenson@cnybj.com