Unapologetically Baltimore

Matt McDermott is a creative strategist and loving sceptic who’s worked in advertising and marketing for more than two decades. He’s built and led multi-disciplinary teams at numerous small agencies, creating award-winning work that earns attention. In 2021, he bought The Harvey Agency, an advertising firm founded in 1986 that was known for its work with CoverGirl, DeWalt, Flying Dog Brewery, and other regional and national CPG Brands. In 2023, he reorganised the agency, culminating in its rebrand under the new name, Humble & Wallop. 

Matt’s worked with brands across industries, including Comcast Universal, Stanley Black & Decker, Johns Hopkins University, National Geographic, the Smithsonian, the U.S. Navy, and the United Way. 

Baltimore’s always wrestled with its identity. It’s both Mobtown and Charm City. Northern and Southern. A bold new model for urban optimism and a shrinking city collapsing under the weight of corruption and disinvestment. We’re everything and nothing, all at once. Just depends on who you ask. 

Juxtaposed with the marbled charisma and chaos of D.C, the brute-force history and attitude of Philadelphia, and the flash and cache of New York, Baltimore exists under the radar. Literally. When did you last see Baltimore labelled on a Doppler map during a national weather report? 

So we cling to the things that remind us — and the rest of the world — we exist. The symbols, the stories, and the brands we believe in are uniquely, unmistakably, and unapologetically Baltimore. 

Even when they’re not. 

Take Natty Boh (National Bohemian Beer for the unanointed). Many locals and transplants treat it as some kind of home-brewed holy water, despite not being made in Baltimore since the brewery laid off 400 and closed in the '90s. By that logic, shouldn’t we also root for the Yankees, who trace their origins to the old Baltimore Orioles franchise that was disbanded and sent packing to New York in 1903? 

Our allegiances to brands don’t have to make sense and often don’t. 

Because a brand is an emotional connection. A local brand, a religious experience. Not surprisingly, those entrusted with the care of brands can transform them from saviour to villain and back again with little warning. 

In late October, national trade magazine Ad Week reported that Visit Baltimore, the city’s official destination marketing organisation, had awarded its high-profile creative agency of record contract to Tampa, Florida agency Spark. Like any agency owner in town, I’m always disappointed when a local brand goes elsewhere. In this case, I was also disappointed not to see the news show up in the local media, even weeks after the announcement. 

So, I shared the Ad Week article with my LinkedIn community. The passion it sparked provided a Freudian glimpse into the complex psyche of Baltimore’s marketing community. 

For some commenters, the Visit Baltimore decision added another bouillon cube to the stew of long-simmering beefs industry locals have had. The last time the account was up for bid, it was awarded to Philadelphia-based agency, Bellweather. 

As the number of comments ticked up, I tagged local media. After all, the news had broken three weeks before, yet it still hadn’t been picked up by an outlet in our market. It was a missed opportunity to provide deeper reporting and context on an account review that had attracted significant interest in the local tourism, advertising, and business communities. 

While I understood the frustration of many — I’ve felt it myself many times — I wondered if we could learn something from decisions like this if we were willing to simply ask. So I did. 

I reached out to Visit Baltimore president & CEO Al Hutchinson and CMO Trish McClean to get their perspectives on the agency selection process and the decision to bring in Spark rather than let the narrative once again be that Baltimore agencies don’t have what it takes to compete with out-of-town shops. 

Al and Trish responded immediately. We sat down for a candid conversation over Zoom a few days later. 

Al, who joined Visit Baltimore in 2016 and has spent more than three decades in tourism marketing, was clear about the stakes of the decision: “If we’re not driving folks and revenue to Baltimore, I’m out of a job. It’s got to be about performance.” 

Visit Baltimore is not an outlier in selecting out-of-town partners for big projects. Massive Baltimore based brands like McCormick and Under Armour export most of their ad dollars to New York agencies and holding company goliaths like Dentsu and Droga 5. When the Walters Museum rebranded, they picked Pentagram, the iconic design powerhouse out of New York. The Preakness’s last logo was designed by a New York shop (and then updated each year with PowerPoint by the looks of it.) Even Baltimoreans’ nostalgic go-to vacation spot, Ocean City, chose a Milwaukee agency to handle tourism marketing — though some have questioned the logic behind a beach town choosing a firm located 600 miles from the closest ocean. 

“[The decision to hire an agency] can’t be based on your last name or where you live,” Al said. “We always want to partner with Baltimore firms. We want to be inclusive. But everyone needs to follow a process.” 

For the Visit Baltimore pitch, the process included reviewing proposals from more than a dozen agencies that responded to the RFP. From there, a shortlist of shops was invited to deliver an in person capabilities presentation. Three finalists were then selected to complete and present spec work (assignments agencies take on for free to demonstrate how they’d perform if they were getting paid). 

The awardee was chosen based on an evaluation of written and in-person presentations by a selection committee of marketing experts from organisations including the Baltimore Orioles, Maryland Office of Tourism Development, the Downtown Partnership, Maryland Institute College of Art, The Aquarium, Upsurge, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. 

The winning agency, Spark, was selected unanimously, Trish said. 

A veteran of multiple local agencies, Trish held senior-level positions at MGH and Planit before joining Visit Baltimore in 2019. She’s no stranger to the pitch process and the impact these decisions can have on the agency community. During our call, she emphasised that Visit Baltimore's current agency roster features a diverse cross-section of local firms: 

• TBC in Butcher’s Hill handles media and has had a relationship with the organisation for years. 

• Tech firm MindGrub was tapped to develop a Baltimore-themed video game for Vid-Con. 

• REJ & Associates, an established MBE marketing and production firm, partnered with Visit Baltimore to promote The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) tournament. 

• Downtown Partnership president Shelonda Stokes’s production company, greiBO Entertainment, bills itself as the organisation’s multi-cultural tourism resource. 

• And most recently, women-founded agency Coven Collective was brought on to support Visit Baltimore’s Warm Welcome initiative.

After over two decades of working in and advocating for the Baltimore ad industry, I’ve seen plenty of instances where local firms haven’t gotten a fair shake — politically, economically, and culturally. 

I’m confident this wasn’t one of those instances. 

A firm shouldn’t be entitled to the work because their zip code says so. But I’m unapologetic in the belief that the tie should always go to the (local) runner when all things are equal in a contest between agencies. 

I also don’t buy into the myth that it takes an outsider to see the creative opportunities that insiders can’t. Again, geography doesn’t equal better ideas; honest, unflinching research does. Equipped with the insight, the best agencies will come up with the best ideas. 

Am I disappointed not to see a local shop at the top handling creative duties? Absolutely. But I believe Visit Baltimore’s decision was made in good faith and with good intentions. So, I’m rooting like hell for Spark to create an irresistible narrative for our town. It’s in Baltimore’s best interests for their campaign to be wildly successful. 

As for lessons agencies can take away from this experience? I think they’d be the same regardless of the location: 

• Always ask for a debrief after a loss. You’ve invested a lot into a pitch and deserve to know why it didn’t work out. 

• Build and continuously nurture relationships with decision-makers at the brands you respect — online, in-person, and in meaningful ways. Aim for the impossible goal of being a bigger expert on them than they are. 

• Continue to hire the best talent you can find by widening the pool of prospects outside your network. 

• Never stop being a student of the industry. Devour every insight about trends in the market, whether that market is the East Coast or Eastern Europe. 

• Consider how technologies like AI can create force multipliers to compete with bigger firms outside your area by automating the tasks that require headcount. 

• Probably reconsider writing a critical opinion piece about local brands if you’re trying to win over local brands.