FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2022
Lure Agency, an integrated marketing agency, is proud to announce a Science & Soul-abration in honor of celebrating ten years in business and welcoming longtime Director of Operations Susan Tucker to the executive team.
With their unique marketing approach of infusing science (data and analytics) with soul (creativity), Lure Agency creates B2B campaigns that not only add to the bottom line but also show the "heart" of their clients' brands.
"It's always been our mission to create effective and memorable campaigns," said Falter. "I think we've been able to do that by combining Science and Soul in our approach."
Lure Agency's methodology has proven to be successful time and time again. In fact, the agency boasts a client retention rate of three years, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in attributed revenue.
The are no plans of slowing down, either. Founder Cory Falter is excited to announce Susan Tucker has joined the executive team as Partner and Co-Owner to help lead the agency into Lure Agency 2.0.
Between Cory's creative vision and Susan's passion for data and analytics, the team is confident they will continue to create effective campaigns that make a lasting impression for another ten years, at least!
The History of Lure Agency
The birth of Lure Agency began as a wedding anniversary trip to Palm Springs in September 2012.
Cory and his wife, Heather, had returned to California after a disastrous move to Austin, Texas. He had accepted an opportunity to open and manage a satellite office in La Jolla for an agency based in Phoenix. He quickly realized this was not a good fit and the pressure was on him to find plan B.
Cory says, "I should have listened to my gut, but I had a family to support, and it was desperate times as the sole provider. Sidebar: If you want to check the health of any company, look at its turnover and retention rate. How quickly do employees come and go? That alone will tell you a lot about any company!"
With a boss everyone tried to avoid, Cory repeatedly saw that any potential deal was dead when she added herself to the calendar invite. That's when he had a lightbulb moment. "If this agency, with $5M in annual revenue could make it, imagine how an agency could do by not treating people badly."
Cory had been a self-employed Art Director for most of his career, so it was an affirming next step to go at it alone again. He knew he could put together a solid team of professionals and do things the right way - with transparency, integrity, and respect.
"I had always dreamed of starting my own full-service agency in hospitality," Cory says, "and with Facebook now entering the commercial industry, the timing felt right."
What started as a romantic Palm Springs escape became a weekend-long poolside strategy session. By the time Cory and his wife returned to San Diego, there was a plan and a business name. Cory's wife, Heather, actually came up with the name Lure Agency.
With much appreciation to some early investors (ie. Cory's parents), Lure Agency got up and running with a handful of hotel clients, offering social media and creative services. Cory launched with a team of three which included Heather Falter (office manager), Judith Pelayo (graphic designer), and Sean Clanton (social media manager).
When Social Media Ruled for Hospitality
Lure Agency grew quickly as hoteliers were excited to infuse social media into their marketing programs, onboarding almost every prospect.
Cory says, "I fondly remember watching a General Manager's jaw drop when we showed him a real-time Twitter convo between a guest staying at his hotel and a comment about how thin the walls were."
Social media has changed a lot in the past ten years. What started as "unlimited organic reach" quickly became "pay-to-play".
Cory says, "the early 2010s were the pioneer days of social media when there was no such thing as 'limited organic reach' or 'boosted posts.' Everyone who liked your page saw your posts for FREE! Likes and Follows were easy to come by, and showing massive value and direct revenue was a breeze."
As technologies and demand have shifted, the monetization of social media has changed the game. Getting tangible results is much harder with increased competition and the requirement to spend money for impressions.
When Susan joined the team in 2015 as Director of Strategy, Lure Agency had already seen a shift in demand. Social media made way for inbound marketing strategies, and Cory pivoted to focus on working directly with hotel sales teams to build group business.
Over the years, and the by-product of the pandemic, Lure Agency pivoted again to focus on the B2B side of hospitality (including independent hotels and vendors), which has perfectly complimented our demand generation and content marketing strategies.
Lure Agency 2.0
September 2022 marks our 10th anniversary and the start of an exciting new phase in our agency’s growth with the appointment of Susan as Partner and Co-Owner. She will take the lead as Director of Science, while Cory Falter will take the lead as Director of Soul. (Click the image below to learn more about why this is the perfect partnership).
Having been a critical component of our agency's success over the past eight years, Cory is honored to have Susan in a leadership role to help guide Lure Agency to future success.
"I also have someone to share the blame with if things go sideways. LOL." Cory says, "Where I’m weak, she’s strong. It allows me to focus more time and energy on the tasks that I excel at and enjoy."
Cory and Susan believe that Science and Soul are equally important ingredients for their client's marketing success. It's a blended fusion that results in inspired, effective campaigns and long-lasting relationships.
"The hospitality industry is made up of some of the most passionate people I've ever met," Susan says. "I'm excited to partner with Cory, who has the same level of dedication and commitment to our client's success as I do. Our strengths perfectly complement each other, and I know we'll continue to produce meaningful results.”
We will always stay true to our core values of:
- Relationships First
- Strategic Accountability
- Technology Meets Creativity
- Extreme Transparency
- K9-Like Agility
As a boutique marketing agency, we pride ourselves on building relationships that last with K9-like agility to keep up with the ever-changing world of digital marketing, so our clients can get the most bang for their marketing buck.
The Science & Soul of Integrated Marketing - The Future of Lure Agency
As we enter our second decade in business, we're grateful for the lessons learned, the clients served, and the team that has been assembled. We will continue to bring the yin and yang of powerful digital strategies to our clients with the Science and Soul Methodology.
The Science of Marketing is the data-driven, numbers-oriented side that focuses on campaigns that generate a positive return on investment (ROI).
The Soul of Marketing is the creative, inspired side that moves people to action.
The perfect blend of Science and Soul makes for an effective marketing campaign.
We invite you to Cheers along with Lure Agency as we celebrate the powerful business partnership of Cory Falter and Susan Tucker and head into another decade (plus) of marketing successes!
Main Photo via Artem Kniaz on Unsplash
