Woodruff, previously known as Woodruff Sweitzer, is an advertising agency founded in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

by Terry Woodruff. Woodruff has worked with various national and regional clients including Bayer HealthCare's Animal Health Division, Arysta LifeScience Corp, Diamond Pet Foods, Missouri Farm Bureau Insurance, and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

's Athletics Department. In 2007, Woodruff was selected to produce Boone County National Bank's 150th anniversary campaign, which led to Woodruff working with its parent company, Central Bancompany. In 2016, Woodruff Sweitzer was included on the

Inc. 5000 ''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events ...

list of America's fastest growing private companies. The company has offices in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

and

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

History

Terry Woodruff founded Woodruff Communications (originally Woodruff & Associates) in 1992. Originally staffed by the founder and his wife, the company expanded into an office in

and another in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 2004, Steve Sweitzer was hired as chief creative officer and the agency was rebranded as Woodruff Sweitzer. Woodruff worked with Boone County National Bank to celebrate the bank's 150th anniversary in 2007. As a result, they produced the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival, which has become a Columbia tradition and brought in 52,000 people from 35 states in 2012. When the bank later changed its name to Central Bank of Boone County, Woodruff examined customer behavior to develop a brand strategy surrounding the new name. One of Woodruff's early clients, Arysta LifeScience, worked with Woodruff for over 15 years and became the world's largest privately held agricultural company. Woodruff began working with Bayer HealthCare's Animal Health Division in 2005, and in July 2008 was named Bayer's "agency of record" (the single agency responsible for all the services that a particular business might require). In 2011, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) selected Woodruff as its public relations agency of record for its swine products division. Woodruff had been working on BIVI's swine vaccines since 2009.

Acquisition

In July 2012, the company acquired Paradowski Creative and expanded into St. Louis. Paradowski Creative was founded by Alex Paradowski and has worked with clients including

The Wine Group The Wine Group is an American alcoholic beverage company founded in 1981, and based in Livermore, California. Products It produces wine brands including Franzia, Cupcake Vineyards, Benziger Family Winery, Chloe Wine Collection, 7 Deadly Wines, I ...

, Monsanto,

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters ...

and Solae. Steve Sweitzer retired from the company in April 2015. In May 2015, Woodruff expanded into the Minneapolis-St. Paul market through the acquisition of Confluence Marketing. The

National Agri-Marketing Association The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) is a non-profit organization of more than 3,500 professional and student members, serving the food and fiber industry. NAMA provides access to solutions and opportunities in agribusiness Agribusines ...

honored Woodruff at its National Best of NAMA Awards in April 2016 with two first place awards in "Company or Association Magazine, External" for ''cwt'', a magazine for potato growers, as well as "Billboards or Other Outdoor Ads" for its SmartBlock billboards. In 2017, at the company's 25th annual meeting, it was announced that the company was rebranding as simply "Woodruff" and it would be employee-owned moving forward.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2013/05/13/risks-rewards/, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905204720/http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2013/05/13/risks-rewards/, url-status=dead, archive-date=September 5, 2016, title=Risks = Rewards, author=Stephanie Detillier, date=May 13, 2013, publisher=Columbia Business Times {{cite web, url=http://www.columbiatribune.com/business/saturday_business/a-company-nurtured-in-fresh-air/article_2dd0f7c3-6adb-5f95-b9ad-f12b1767994d.html, title=A company 'nurtured in fresh air', author=Janese Silvey, date=July 21, 2012, publisher=Columbia Daily Tribune {{cite web, url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2012/07/03/woodruff-sweitzer-acquires-paradowski.html, title=Woodruff Sweitzer acquires Paradowski Creative, date=July 3, 2012, publisher=St. Louis Business Journal {{cite web, url=http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2015/04/27/woodruff-sweitzer-partner-retires-talks.html, title=Woodruff Sweitzer partner retires, talks advertising's future, author=Leslie Collins, date=April 27, 2015, publisher=Kansas City Business Journal {{cite web, url=http://www.republican-eagle.com/news/business/3733840-woodruff-sweitzer-acquires-confluence, title=Woodruff Sweitzer acquires Confluence, author=Samantha Bengs, date=May 1, 2015, publisher=Republican Eagle {{cite web, url=http://nationalhogfarmer.com/woodruff-sweitzer-named-public-relations-agency-record-boehringer-ingelheim-swine-division, title=Woodruff Sweitzer Named Public Relations Agency of Record for Boehringer Ingelheim Swine Division, date=April 1, 2011, publisher=National Hog Farmer {{cite web, url=http://www.marketingmag.ca/advertising/bayer-hires-woodruff-sweitzer-16721, title=Bayer Hires Woodruff Sweitzer, author=Norma Ramage, date=July 16, 2008, publisher=Marketing Mag {{cite web, url=http://archive.showmenews.com/2002/Nov/20021102Busi004.asp, title=Small-town ad firm lands big-time clients, author=Steve Friedman, date=November 2, 2002, publisher=Columbia Daily Tribune {{cite web, url=https://www.bulldogreporter.com/woodruff-sweitzer-wins-national-best-of-nama-awards/, title=Woodruff Sweitzer Wins National Best of NAMA Awards, date=April 20, 2016, publisher=Bulldog Reporter {{cite web, url=http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2010/11/12/woodruff-sweitzer-whats-the-big-idea/, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224022607/http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2010/11/12/woodruff-sweitzer-whats-the-big-idea/, url-status=dead, archive-date=December 24, 2017, title=Woodruff Sweitzer: What's the big idea?, author=Victoria Guida, date=November 12, 2010, publisher=Columbia Business Times {{cite web, url=http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/print-edition/2011/09/02/woodruff-sweitzer-helps-marketing.html, title=Woodruff Sweitzer helps marketing clients with a simple mantra: Figure it out, date=September 2, 2011, publisher=Kansas City Business Journal {{cite web, url=https://mobizmagazine.com/2014/11/25/versa-tech-finds-innovative-uses-for-expanded-polystyrene/, title=Attracting Top Talent Has Made Woodruff Sweitzer a Breakthrough Agency, date=November 25, 2014, author=Jacob Luecke, publisher=Missouri Business {{cite web, url=http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2015/04/27/confluence-marketing-bought-by-missouri-firm.html, title=Confluence Marketing bought by Missouri firm, date=April 27, 2015, author=Clare Kennedy, publisher=Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal {{cite web, url=https://www.aafkc.com/news/woodruff-sweitzer-named-inc-magazine%E2%80%99s-inc-5000-list-america%E2%80%99s-fastest-growing-private, title=Woodruff Sweitzer Named to Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies, date=August 23, 2016, publisher=American Advertising Federation {{cite web, url=http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/2016/state/mo/, title=Top Companies in Missouri on the 2016 Inc. 5000, publisher=Inc. {{cite web, url=https://www.aafkc.com/news/woodruff-sweitzer-creates-%25E2%2580%259Cwe%25E2%2580%2599re-missouri%25E2%2580%259D-campaign, title=Woodruff Sweitzer Creates "We're For Missouri" Campaign, date=November 18, 2014, publisher=AAF Kansas City {{cite web, url=http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2015/12/28/whats-in-a-name/, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231015340/http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2015/12/28/whats-in-a-name/, url-status=dead, archive-date=December 31, 2015, title=What's in a Name?, author=Beth Bramstedt, date=December 28, 2015, publisher=Columbia Business Times

External links

Woodruff Official Website
Marketing companies established in 1992 Advertising agencies of the United States