Atlanta Advertising Agency Since 1984

Kirk Donovan founded Kirk Donovan Enterprises in 1984. It is an advertising agency and consulting firm based in Covington, Georgia, serving Atlanta-area businesses.

The agency's work covers media buying and creative work for radio and television, along with digital advertising, web marketing, social networking and mobile marketing. Some of that work reaches people through a speaker, a screen or a roadside sign, and some of it reaches them on the phone in their hand. Kirk's approach to all of it comes down to getting a response, which means asking one plain question: when someone sees or hears this message, what should they do next?

Media buying is the work of deciding where advertising will run and purchasing the time or space for it. Creative is the work of deciding what the advertising says and how it looks and sounds. The two depend on each other: even a well-written message does little in front of the wrong audience, and the right audience will not be moved by a message nobody remembers.

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If you are unsure which group fits your situation, a free consultation is a simple way to talk it through.

Kirk Donovan started out as a radio announcer and sales representative. His approach to advertising starts with a clear purpose: a message does its job when the people who see or hear it respond.

That view changes the questions worth asking about any ad. Whether it is clever, or whether the owner likes it, matters less than who it is for, what that person should do next and what in the message makes that step easier. A radio spot, a billboard, a web page and an email can all be judged by the same test.

Kirk Donovan and Mason Donovan are introduced on the about page.

Every channel asks something different of the audience, so the same idea rarely works unchanged everywhere. Radio has to work without pictures, which puts the weight on a name and a reason that stick after a quick listen. Television adds sight and motion but is often watched with half an eye. A billboard gets a few words and a glance, so radio and outdoor reward one simple idea repeated, while search and email reward being specific. A search ad meets someone who is already looking, and an email reaches someone who has already agreed to hear from you.

Understanding those differences is a large part of media strategy, and it is why creative work and media buying belong in the same conversation. A carefully written message loses force on the wrong channel, and a well-chosen channel is wasted on a muddled message.

People do not meet advertising one channel at a time. Someone who hears a business name on the radio may look it up on a phone that evening, check the map listing, skim a social media page and only then decide. Each of those moments is a chance to respond, and each is a chance to lose the person if it points somewhere else.

That is a good reason to look at traditional media and digital marketing as one effort. Broadcast and outdoor are good at getting a name noticed by people who were busy with something else; digital gives them somewhere to go once they are curious. Planning the two together is how the first impression and the last click end up saying the same thing.

Kirk is the author of AdSense2: The Digital Revolution and Where Did The Love Go?, and companies and organizations can ask about a seminar with him. The training page has the details.