How I Made It: PR and Marketing Whiz Devin James

by De’Juan Galloway

Oftentimes, entrepreneurship is born out of a stint in the professional world where one comes to conclusions about the possibilities of their own venture. However, this wasn’t the case for Devin James, founder of The Devin James Group, an African-American owned public relations and marketing firm headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

The serial entrepreneur describes himself as always being creative — a component that is evident in his company’s offerings. Mirroring that creativity, James is claiming his stake in the out-of-home advertisement business with Autohood Media, a tier of his company that produces the Autoglove Hoodcover. The  product has won the business of the NBA, NFL, taxi companies and has a market presence in 16 cities nationwide. The serial entrepreneur talks to The Atlanta Post about the past, present and future of his venture.

What is the Devin James Group?

The Devin James Group is a strategic marketing agency that leverages a brand with unique media assets and relationships while developing programs that incorporate PR, marketing and advertising. While serving a diverse client list that includes other advertising and marketing agencies, PR firms, large corporations and small businesses, the agency specializes in brand strategy, identity and advertising art, cutting-edge Web development, public relation campaigns, experiential/guerrilla marketing, non-traditional and out-of-home media.

Can you expound on how you define unique media assets?

One example of a unique media asset is the AutoGlove Hoodcover, which is a patented fabric that slips on the hood of a vehicle (primarily a taxi) in 5 minutes that can be removed in 30 seconds instantly turning any vehicle into a rolling billboard. We integrate that with an innovative PR and advertising program to create that “WOW” factor for your brand marketing/PR campaign.

Where did you begin your career and what motivated you to go into business for yourself?

I began my career in my hometown of Memphis TN. As a child my family moved a lot, but all of the relocation helped me to understand the dynamics of building lasting relationships at a much faster rate than most. So in the last years of college it was clear I was going to become what I am today and instead of a biomedical engineer which is what I was studying for. As far as business goes, in addition to being creative I felt I had a natural ability that would add value to my clients.

At what point did you know you were ready to begin your own venture?

One of my mentors, who was like a grandfather to me, asked if I wanted to share his office to get my business started. I agreed and was so diligent I practically lived in the office until I developed the business model that complimented my lifestyle. After a few months, the business grew exponentially and I took the entire space. At that point , I knew and the Devin James Group was officially launched.

Can you provide more detail into who your mentor/grandfather-like figure was? What made him choose to give you office space?

My mentor/grandfather figure is an entrepreneur from Cleveland, Ohio. He was not the type of guy that likes all the hype and began his career as an insurance agent who worked his way up, organically built his clientele then sold the franchise to open his own agency.

After we met he took interest in some of the things I was working on and asked if I could help him with a few ideas to market and grow his business. He was impressed with what I came up with and he instantaneously made the offer for the office space. To be honest I think he was my first client, but either way I’m certain that God used him to help me grow.

Did you begin working on the foundation of the company during your undergraduate career or was it all post grad?

I attended the University of Memphis and majored in Psychology and Biomedical Engineering. As a senior with a 3.8 GPA on track to graduate in the spring semester of 2004 I was shot in my left chest/shoulder area just inches away from my heart during a robbery at my job. As a result of the shooting I lost everything and was forced to withdraw from school and spend the next 6 months getting reconstructive surgeries to repair my humerus and various nerve/muscle tissue damage while simultaneously being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ultimately my maximum medical improvement rating was consistent with a permanent disability to my shoulder and arm which altered my plans and changed my perspective on life. Recovering from the shooting was the rebirth of Devin James. Far from being idle during the 6 months of recovery I began developing business models that would allow me to provide for my family using my creativity and intellectual property instead of using my hands or physical labor since I could no longer perform simple tasks that most of us take for granted. Later that year I taught myself how to write with the opposite hand, began my physical therapy and launched Native Graphix, a graphic design firm which is now wholly owned by the Devin James Group. Local media caught on when the Memphis Business Journal published an article.

What personal life lessons have you learned that have been applicable to being an entrepreneur?

You don’t have to learn everything from trial and error. There have been enough people that stumbled before you that you can learn from. Become diligent, read everything, study your craft, analyze yourself, set realistic goals and have someone in business other than yourself to bounce things off of. Failure is a part of business so redefine your perception of it and learn from others so you can turn your flaws into attributes.

In terms of the Devin James Group’s day-to-day operations, walk me through a day at the office? How many employees do you have?

We have a total of 17 full-time employees and a three-member board of advisers. As the founder and CEO, I have employed a C-level staff, which includes our CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), who leads the sales and marketing team. The Senior IT Engineer leads all of our web initiatives, digital and social media projects. The Senior Designer/Creative Director oversees all of the creative/brand and advertising designs. The Public Relations Manager directs publicity campaigns and the AE’s (Account Executives) manage the relationships with the clients, do the follow-ups and handle business development.

Every Monday we have virtual Impact Meetings via video conference so all the offices can join in. This meeting format allows me to encourage and motivate the rest of the team as we go over the weeks’ objectives and on Friday’s we have a recap and review of what we accomplished that week.

The brand development and public relations sector seems to be one of mass concentration. How are your services and/or approach different than the masses?

In a nutshell we engineer creative solutions to brand challenges. Our proven expertise in traditional and emerging media offer flexible and diverse solutions that deliver the strongest opportunity for success to our clients.

We structure our rationale for services/programs and our approach for implementation differently.  We consistently look for the point of difference that sets our client apart from the masses an do an excellent job of demonstrating the expected outcome of our efforts. We remove all the guess-work so the client knows exactly what they are getting.

How’d you get interested in public relations?

There are a few experiences that got my agency involved in PR. The first thing was a conversation with my dad who revealed that in the 70’s his company was one of the first African American PR firms to get a contract with the Memphis Airport Authority. At that time my father was battling with stomach cancer and I felt the need to understand PR more because it represented something that brought us closer.

Another experience is when I launched AutoHood Media in Memphis during the fall of 2008. At that time I was developing a strategy that would augment our sales, get businesses in the region talking about our product and introduce us to additional markets. Implementing my strategy called for me to block off the historic Beale Street for hours,which is hard to do and extremely expensive. I lined the street with 50 taxis bearing my clients’ ad on the hood.

As a result, every media outlet in the city attended the press conference and I secured print features and TV interviews with each one. I had successfully executed my first major press conference and an amazing PR stunt that became our launch program in every market without even knowing that I was doing PR.

Then further confirmation that my agency was headed in the right direction came when the Vice President of a global PR firm, Weber Shandwick, called me in her office to develop a strategic mentor protégé joint venture and go after some public awareness RFPs. The VP who is now a really close business partner/friend said she decided to contact me after reading my Black Enterprise article. That further proved that our model generates contacts that generate contracts.

Can you identify a specific example(s) of your best product of creativity?

One of the biggest highlights for me personally and the agency was the creation of the brand and launching of AutoHood Media, which is a mobile media firm that is co-owned by the Devin James Group. Since I created the entire brand concept that you see today; I have also watched and been a part of the rapid portfolio growth in markets across the country and have been the thought leader behind the creative development of campaigns ranging from; the Country Music Hall of Fame/Ford Motors Dealership sweepstakes, Ford Motors Game Day Text Swap sweepstakes, the Beale Street Merchants mobile tourism program, the 2010 NBA All-Star “Taxi Takeover” and many others.

In 2009 we sold our licensed sports division and its inventory so we could invest more into the taxi/vehicle advertising division. Those licensed sports fan products were available in Wal-Mart stores across the country. However, if you visit Samsclub.com you can see examples of the University of Alabama, University of Memphis and other collegiate sports licensed AutoGlove HoodCover products, just type in Autoglove in the search bar.

Describe the process of how The Devin James Group obtains clients?

75 percent of our clients have come from referrals. The other 25% come from our own PR such as the 2 page feature in the “Largest Black Businesses” issue of Black Enterprise that hit the stands in June or the Memphis Business Quarterly that was released in July of this year.

In selecting clients to partner with, what do you look for?

First I ask the question, ‘are we a good fit for each other?’ The agency relationship is like a marriage for the length of the contract and the last thing you want is a relationship that doesn’t make sense. We both have to understand the mutual value and benefits of the collaboration.

Secondly, it is imperative for them to give us a clear outline of their expectations. Without these, it is impossible to measure the success of the program.

Great brands need investments of capital in order to maintain their relevance and vitality,which is a major part of brand development. Is this an area where the Devin James Group assists their clients?

We expect that our clients have an established program budget or have funds available based on the proposed budget in our presentation. We do not provide funding for our services. However we do select a few companies a year, usually non-profits or small start-ups and offer our services pro-bono to them as part of our community reinvestment initiative.

Change is inevitable in life and in business– can you share a time where The Devin James Group has had to re-imagine itself and what was the outcome of those changes?

Two years ago we were strictly a creative graphic and web design firm that performed as a sub-contractor to larger agencies. As the economy changed a lot of the larger agencies priced themselves out of some competitive bids for assignments. Given our reputation to produce exceptional work, at the request of our clients to take on more work, we were successful in expanding our client portfolio, core services, and our implementation of comprehensive brand communication programs.

Where do you see the Devin James Group in 5 years?

We are our biggest critic so we are always analyzing ourselves and do our best to lead by example, which is why managing other brands comes natural. We look at our clients, their brand and reputation and we take stock in it as if it were our own. The company was founded by me effectively managing my own personal brand, establishing my point of differentiation from the masses, building and leveraging relationships then transforming that model into a profitable business endeavor that eventually became the Devin James Group. 5 years from now the Devin James Group will be a global agency representing emerging brands across multiple sectors.