Saatchi X Tops Marketing List

Springdale-based Saatchi & Saatchi X is Northwest Arkansas’ largest marketing firm in terms of total employees.

The company, which has a global presence, employs about 140 people in the area. The total number of employees is down more than 20 percent from the previous year, but a spokeswoman for Saatchi said that was due to inflated numbers in 2008. The company hosted a team of workers who were working to open an office in Chicago at the time the Business Journal surveyed it for 2008 numbers.

(To download the list of the top Northwest Arkansas advertising agencies, click here.)

Most of the firms showed either a dip in employment or remained steady. Only two, Rockfish Interactive of Rogers and DOXA Total Design Strategy of Fayetteville, added employees. Principals at both firms said they feel fortunate to have grown in such tough economic times.

Several principals with many of the firms said advertising clients had cut budgets and reduced spending.

Ron Hudnall, CEO of Resource Design of Rogers, launched a “stimulus plan” to help small businesses on Aug. 6. At the NWA Business Expo, he began handing out $2,000 vouchers in a “Cash for Brand Clunkers” program. The company will give businesses cash credit for design and branding services to help them weather the storm and gain market share as the economy picks up, Hudnall said.

“There’s no reason ‘mom and pop’ need to look like ‘mom and pop,’” he said.