Alan Marcus still remembers the day in December 1970 when his advertising agency started. In many ways, the transition from news reporter to advertising executive has been monumental for Hudson County, since his clients over the last four decades have been some of those who helped shape this world.
The Marcus Group – a boutique agency specializing in advertising, crisis communications and public relations – was on the ground floor of Applied Housing when it first started under Walter Barry.
“We were involved when New York Waterways started,” he said. “We helped build Palisades General Hospital and were brought in to save Jersey City Medical Center,” Marcus said.
Although Marcus Group has since expanded its reach to other parts of the state and metropolitan area, the firm did a lot of work in Hudson County during the 1980s and 1990s for companies such as Hartz Mountain Industries.
“We’ve always had a sense of community, helping a number of charities.” – Alan Marcus
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“There are not many firms that have lasted this long,” Marcus said.
Looking for someone to help
To commemorate the anniversary, The Marcus Group will gift itself, choosing one lucky nonprofit organization to receive its award-winning communications expertise free for one year.
Marcus said his employees thought up the concept for the “Forty… for Goodness Sake” project as a way to celebrate the agency’s anniversary and highlight its history of charitable giving.
Marcus Group has a long history of involvement with charities inside and outside Hudson County, most recently using its talents to help Gilda’s Club of Northern New Jersey.
Most recently, the agency stepped in to provide communications services to Gilda’s Club when the organization faced bankruptcy. The Marcus Group helped stabilize the organization, recruit new leadership, and conceived and executed one of the most successful events of its kind in Bergen County history last fall: Freddie Roman’s “Ladies of Laughter,” which attracted more than 1,000 fans to a performance by female comediennes honoring Gilda Radner’s memory.
The Marcus Group has helped Gilda’s Club gain local, regional, and national media coverage in addition to assisting with the organization’s ongoing marketing activities. Today, Gilda’s Club is back from the brink and was recently selected by the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs as its special state project for 2010-2012.
The agency is inviting the New Jersey and New York metropolitan area nonprofits to describe how a successful communications campaign will benefit the organization and community. The Marcus Group will accept entries through Nov. 19 and choose its 40th anniversary not-for-profit client in early December.
To qualify, candidates must be a 501(c)(3) organization from the New Jersey or New York metropolitan area, and have no current outside communications representation. Eligible nonprofits must provide a written description about themselves, their mission and services, and how a communications firm can help them reach their goals. The Marcus Group will select the most compelling proposal that best demonstrates how professional communication services can benefit the organization and greater community and how the agency’s services can make a significant difference.
Company officials value the “Forty for Goodness Sake” project well in excess of $100,000 based on the most recent experience with Gilda’s Club Northern New Jersey.
For complete project details and an application form, visit www.marcusgroup.com. Applicants should send a completed form and two-page proposal to info@marcusgroup.com. Proposals should not exceed two pages.
A group of employees will look over the applications to see which will get a year’s worth of services free.
“If we can help others with smaller things, we will,” Marcus said. We’ve always had a sense of community, helping a number of charities. So we want to help a deserving charity and celebrate our 40th anniversary at the same time. This is would not replace people who might be employed in a non-profit, we would help them by providing clear leadership, guidance, and access to social media.”