Stephen Rosa learned to identify business solutions at a company that would grow to become a Fortune 500 giant – EMC.
From his position, among the first 100 employees of the data storage and cloud computing company, he could see how outside advertising and marketing agencies didn’t really hit the mark with their campaigns, because they didn’t understand the technology or the company.
He knew he could do it better. At 25, he launched (add)ventures, a business of communications and brand messaging that has grown steadily from its Rhode Island base, and now has offices in Miami and New York.
“At EMC, we would give something to an agency and it would take them forever to respond,” Rosa said. “When they did it was usually an empty suit: ‘Let me get back to you.’ I built my model [so that] when you’re working with (add)ventures, you’re working with a designer, a copywriter and a strategist all in one.”
Initially aimed at technology companies, (add)ventures quickly branched out. Today, its clients represent a variety of consumer goods, and span the globe. They include Newell Brands, and specifically its Oster blender, Welch-Allyn, a maker of stethoscopes, and AOC, a company that manufactures gaming and computer monitors.
The work has evolved to include brand storytelling and digital marketing. The move into Miami, undertaken 10 years ago, was intended to allow the company to tap into the resources of a multinational city that is the gateway to Latin America. At the time, Rosa said some in Rhode Island thought he was making a mistake.
“I wanted to have a team in Miami that could help us see the evolution when the United States became predominantly Hispanic,” he said. “I wanted to have a pulse on the different communities that make that up.”
He wanted his company to grow and expand.
“We wanted to do something bold,” he said.
The company that started in Boston, then moved to Providence as the internet was just getting established, now has 60 employees across its three offices.
The biggest mistake that companies make in selecting their marketing and brand-management partners is to play it safe and choose the name-brand, big-city firm, Rosa said.
“Within six months, the trouble starts. At nine months, all hell is breaking loose, but they have a deadline at the end of the year,” he said. “That’s when they’ll take a chance on (add)ventures and we’ll come in and save the day.”
The company recently was awarded job-creation tax incentives through R.I. Commerce Corp. to facilitate the growth of its Providence-based team. The company planned to keep its headquarters in Providence, Rosa said, but the Miami team had the potential to grow as well.
“Commerce explained the different things that were available to help the growth here,” he said.
In Providence, he’s found a depth of talent through the universities. And he also likes to hire returning Rhode Islanders, people who have left the state and want to return – who he called “boomerang-ers.
“They’re drawn to come home, where it means a little more to them to be successful,” he said.
OWNER: Stephen Rosa, CEO
LOCATION: 117 Chapman St., Providence (headquarters)
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Multidisciplinary brand communications
EMPLOYEES: 60 (52 in R.I.)
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1989
ANNUAL SALES: WND
