Des Moines advertising agency expands to Sioux Falls

Aug. 18, 2022

A Des Moines-based advertising agency has opened an office in downtown Sioux Falls.

Flynn Wright is leasing space at 223 S. Phillips Ave. in the first floor of the Carpenter Building. American State Bank was the previous tenant.

Flynn Wright was founded in 1984 and has grown into a full-service agency, offering advertising, marketing, public relations, research, video and web development services, with more than 80 employees.

“To a great extent, Sioux Falls is a perfect representation of our company,” Flynn Wright president Paul Schlueter said.

“We think there’s a great creative culture, we think it’s very entrepreneurial and very self-sufficient. We have a lot of interest in the community already. We’ve been spending a lot of time here, so it’s natural to make a move here. But beyond that, we just think it aligns extremely well with what’s made us successful.”

The firm has developed a focus around consumer insights that drive sales, he said.

“We are very transactional. If something needs to be sold, we do it well,” he said. “We’re really good up and down the funnel, but we go well beyond brand marketing. We get into the depths of how our clients acquire customers.”

The company’s clients with Sioux Falls ties include Midco and NorthWestern Energy. It does a lot of work in the telecommunications and energy industries, Schlueter said, along with business-to-consumer retail.

“Our foundation is as a research and strategy firm,” he said. “That’s how we’ve differentiated ourselves over the last two decades. … We are extremely data-driven and consumer insights-driven.”

Flynn Wright envisions having up to 15 people working from Sioux Falls in the next five years, he said. The first hire, Laura Arnett, serves as business development director. Other staff from Des Moines have been traveling to Sioux Falls and working from the downtown office.

“I want people to understand, and everyone we hire or talk to to understand, this is not a satellite office,” Schlueter said. “We view this absolutely as an extension of what we have been doing in Des Moines. This is not a local team going to work on local business. We are hiring talent that is exceptional and will work on everything that we do.”

The firm settled on its space because “we love what is happening downtown,” he added. “It is vibrant, it is highly creative, and we want to be a part of it.”

Nearly all staff are in the office daily because “culture is key to our organization, and we tend to develop culture across the table,” he said, while adding there is a flexible approach to how people work day to day.

Sioux Falls is a “community that reminds us a lot of Des Moines,” Schlueter said. “There are very similar growth patterns in place, the downtown revitalization is very attractive to us, and we plan to come here and be an important player in the business community.”

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Des Moines advertising agency expands to Sioux Falls

A Des Moines-based advertising agency has opened an office in downtown Sioux Falls.

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