Advertising firm helping local businesses hits 10-year milestone

The Pyper Inc. advertising agency has hit its 10-year milestone. The St. Petersburg agency is behind the brand-building of several large non-profits and small local businesses. 

Located in St. Pete’s historic First Block on Central Avenue, Pyper has a team of 10. Kelly Pyper, founder and president of the agency, said by having a tight, nimble team compared to corporate marketing giants, they can deliver more engaged and focused expertise on different facets. Over the past decade, the agency has partnered with more than 100 organizations to reach their marketing goals through website design and branding. 

“I knew I wanted a more boutique agency where we could focus on clients and get results,” Pyper said, recalling when she exited her role at the Tampa Pyper Paul and Kenney (known as PPK) agency in 2012 to set off on establishing her own. 

The firm has fostered a portfolio of clients across industries including food and beverage, real estate, health care, tourism, retail, nonprofits and more. Pyper recently launched custom-built websites for Preserve the ‘Burg (which Pyper also helped rebrand), Apogee Real Estate Partners and the St. Petersburg Innovation District, which were all fully completed in-house.

St. Petersburg Preservation is a decades-old local nonprofit that engaged Pyper to create its strategic marketing plan. Pyper was also instrumental in the name rebrand.  

Pyper and Lindsay Petty, vice president of strategy and client services, said the bustling art and culture scene in St. Pete has been essential to their business as they have worked with the Dali Museum on a project, and with the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art on its digital marketing campaign.

The duo explained they were in the midst of developing a three-year growth plan when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, throwing a curveball into the plans – but the shift gave way to new strategic planning methods, and clients. 

“In the first 12 months, nonprofits that were used to big events for fundraising had to make the change to a virtual routine and we helped them with that,” Pyper said, adding how non-profits found more time to re-evaluate marketing plans, and the team was also able to help the St. Pete Greenhouse on its mission to support African American businesses. 

“We even had an estate planner reach out to us because people really started thinking about their health during this time,” Pyper said regarding the new business opportunities. 

The agency also worked with the Innovation District on its digital inclusiveness program and unemployment line project. 

Currently, the team is busy at work developing a new website for the Warehouse Arts District Association, which they said will be completed in two months, among many other projects in the works. 

While the team has an all-hands-on-deck approach, Pyper said the firm may grow to 12 to 15 employees, but she wants to continue the successful strategy of having a team hyper-focused on each individual client’s needs. 

Cat Lim is also on Pyper’s executive team and leads the creative strategies. Lim is a key player in Pyper’s accomplishments in working with clients and designing materials.