2008 In August, Mi refocused its business plan and returned to its original core services: mailing, analytics, list acquisition and market research. It sold its print division in order to further specialize its client service.
2007: On April 27, CEO Bob Massie joined Gov. Mitch Daniels as keynote speaker at the Business Growth Strategies event hosted by the Indianapolis Business Journal and Fifth Third Bank.
National media continued to feature the Mi success story:
- “A new way of looking at things – Marketing and print come together,” January, Printing News, by Bob Massie
- “Smart Leaders” section, “How to find the right employees to create a seasoned people stew,” March, Smart Business Indianapolis as told to Mark Scott by Bob Massie
- “Back to Basics: Mail is tough to beat – if you do it right,” March, DIRECT Magazine, by Bob Massie
- “Find it. Use it.” May, Inc. magazine, cover story by Leigh Buchanan on managing your intellectual assets
In June, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City once again recognized Mi on its list of the fastest growing inner-city companies in America. Mi jumped in the rank from #39 in 2006 to #19 in 2007. And on June 26, Inc. magazine once again notified Mi that the company will appear on the Inc. 500 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America. Its official rank will be announced at the end of August. This marks the third straight year for recognition from both ICIC and Inc. magazine.
2006: This noteworthy year catapulted Mi onto the national scene.
The company received several awards recognizing its growth and unique selection of services:
- The Harvard School of Business, Inc. magazine, and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City named Mi as #39 in the 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Urban America.
- Experian, the national credit bureau, awarded Mi the first-ever Comprehensive Partner Award. It recognizes that Mi uses a broader array of Experian data products for analytics and marketing than any other company in America.
- Inc. magazine recognized Mi again on the Inc. 500 as the nation’s 186th fastest growing privately held company.
- In September, the Indianapolis Business Journal named Mi the #1 fastest growing privately held company in the Indianapolis area.
- Mi received the Growth Award at the second annual Indiana Entrepreneurial Awards of Distinction, hosted by Indiana University’s Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
As a result of this high-speed growth, several major publications featured Mi throughout the year:
- “Firm finds direct approach pays off,” June 5, Indianapolis Business Journal, by Anthony Schoettle
- “Tailored Mail,” August 28, Indianapolis Star, by Eric Martin
- “ROI: DM’s Little Secret?” August 28, DM News, by Bob Massie
- “100 words or less: How do you define excellence in marketing?” October, American Printer, by Bob Massie
In January, Mi acquired Thrive3, a local advertising and creative agency that specialized in publications and collaborative projects. Thrive3 owner Lloyd Brooks joined Marketing Informatics as vice president of corporate communications and creative director as part of the merger.
The team expanded further when Chris Davis, former auditor with Katz Sapper and Miller, joined the company as controller, and Jay Cahill, former executive director of the Marion County Republican Central Committee and campaign consultant, joined the company as director of community and government initiatives.
On the night of Sunday, April 2, straight-line winds and tornadoes ripped through Indianapolis, and Mi felt the hit. Winds destroyed a 140-foot section of wall, but local builders quickly erected a temporary wall to ensure that everyone was back to work the next morning. Even with a flooded printing house and dramatic change in temperature, Mi only lost four hours of production.
By mid-summer, Mi and subsidiary company RPS Printing reached nearly 100 employees with the addition of a third shift, and the company began running 24 hours a day.
In November, Mi sponsored its first scholarship, the Shooting Sports Education Achievement Scholarship for the Indiana 4-H Foundation.2005: In January, the company added its 25th full time employee, changed its name to Marketing Informatics, Inc. and trademarked "Information@work." to better describe its role for clients of managing and implementing the flow of information through the direct marketing process.
A second production shift was added later in the year - a midnight shift to accommodate the growing demand for multiple inserts in “customer acquisition” letters. This growing demand led to the company adding its 35th employee in November.
In the fall, Mi received two prestigious recognitions, both for the cumulative corporate growth over the years 2002 - 2005:
- The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University awarded Mi the Indiana Entrepreneurial Award of Distinction for Growth;
- Inc. Magazine named it #175 in the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America.
In November RPS Printing, Inc. was acquired by Mi owner and CEO, Bob Massie. While not a subsidiary of Mi, RPS Printing, Inc. functions as a sister company further expediting the tight turn times so common in response-oriented direct mail marketing.
2004: The company added its 20th full time employee and outgrew both existing production facilities, as well as executive offices in downtown Indianapolis. It purchased and moved into 5739 Professional Circle, a 65,000 square foot facility in Park Fletcher. Stacie Rose was recruited from the CRM department at Galyan's to become the VP of Direct Marketing; Dan McCarthy was recruited as VP of Mail Operations; Bill Warner joined us as VP Sales and Marketing; and Derrick Smith was promoted to Senior VP. A new two-year contract with the Indiana General Assembly was signed for 2005 and 2006.
2003: The founder retired from the Indianapolis City County Council to focus on growing the company. In October of 2003, Jim Haas joined the company as President, bringing his significant business management background to play in reorganizing the company and its systems to handle growth while maintaining quality and service levels. The founder transitioned to CEO. Dr. Brian Vargus retired from the Public Opinion Lab at IUPUI and joined the staff as Senior Research Scientist. The company was awarded a major two-year contract to handle all constituent print/mail communications for the Indiana House of Representatives, Republican Caucus.
2002: The company underwent a name change, from Massie & Associates, Inc. to Massie, Inc. The client base diversified geographically and in business type. The 10th full-time employee was hired. By that time, the staff skill sets were grouping significantly around the four business services lines, with special emphasis on mail processing. Operations were divided with mail and data operations at 3311 Shelby Street and research and list brokering moved back to the Madison Avenue property.
2001: Growth continued with two milestones: Milestone #1: the company signed its first mailing customer to purchase services every week of the year. Milestone #2: Jim Coryell, now VP of Market Research, joined the staff.
2000: The company devised a direct marketing program for the Leukemia Society of America that was adopted by local offices throughout the eastern United States.
1999: The company outgrew its Madison Avenue facility and moved its operations to 3311 Shelby Street, more than doubling its space. The company also had advanced to the place that it was serving many Indiana institutions, among them: The Indiana State Medical Association, Golden Rule Insurance, Indianapolis Civic Theater, and others. Additionally, it landed contracts in other cities, companies like the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation in Los Angeles and Vision New England in Boston. Production of the weekly newspaper column was halted, but proprietary research on Indiana continued.
1998: The company was awarded its first contract from both a national and a state organization. Pfizer, Inc. hired it to replicate and update a major research project re: Viagra and the Medicare formulary that had first been done by another company two years earlier. The Indiana chapter of the American Cancer Society and the national Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids hired the company to do the first of several statewide surveys on tobacco use. In a later year, the company did the research that was used by the Indiana General Assembly as a keystone of the formula for distributing the money granted in the tobacco company settlement by the Attorney General.
1997: The company trademarked "The Hoosier Poll" and began operation on proprietary research focused on the state of Indiana. A weekly newspaper column was produced and syndicated among 24 newspapers statewide.
1996: Derrick Smith, now Senior VP, joined the company after completing a graduate degree at Indiana University. His beginning role was as Operations Director.
November, 1995: The founder was elected to the Indianapolis City County Council, affording a significant opportunity for public service as well as a broadening connection to the business, government, and political communities.
April, 1994: The company's first employee was hired. Mark Myers is still with the company and functions as IT Director. The first major service job was awarded: a 100,000 piece mailing for The Hudson Institute. Also, the company moved into its first stand-alone facility on Madison Avenue on the south side of Indianapolis.
March, 1994: Massie & Associates, Inc. was incorporated. After seven years, the consulting practice had grown to the point of requiring either an expansion of consulting services or a new corporate direction. The decision was made to pursue a new direction. That direction was to develop expertise in direct marketing services that are the heart of the flow of information in the direct marketing process. Specifically, the key services in four areas were (and are): market research, list brokering/acquisition, mailing services, database management.
January, 1987: Massie & Associates began operations as a sole proprietor consulting practice specializing in direct marketing for both profit and non-profit organizations.