A lot can change in a quarter century. Just ask Coleen King, president and founder of the East Lansing marketing agency that bears her name.
When King Media was formed in 1999, Facebook was but a gleam in 14-year-old Mark Zuckerberg’s eyes, and 96% of households used a landline. Next month, the local and 100% woman-owned agency will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
“I started King Media five years before Facebook was born,” King recalls with a laugh, “Now social and digital media are powerful tools to reach precise audiences and mine for insights. We can deliver tailored messaging to the right person at the right time and place. Nearly all our client’s marketing plans have a digital and social component.”
Change is a big deal for King, whose path to success in a male-dominated industry includes time with Chicago’s prestigious Avery Knodel television; breaking barriers as the first female sales representative in the history of WLNS-TV (Lansing’s CBS affiliate); and rising to become a top-performing regional sales manager for Lansing’s NBC and CBS affiliates.
When King retired, the quality relationships she’d built and maintained over her career endured—giving rise to King Media. Today, the agency offers a full complement of top-shelf advertising, marketing, and public relations services, and has supported change for countless organizations across the country.
In recent years, King has made the conscious choice to focus on helping Michigan residents, businesses and organizations succeed. “Michigan is my home,” she explains, “and I believe I can leave a lasting legacy by strengthening communities right here.”
“A project has to mean something for us to take it on,” King says. “Our team gets excited about contributing to the growth and vitality of communities and making a positive difference in people’s lives.” King’s work always begins with research, a key ingredient in the agency’s “secret sauce.” “By grounding our strategy in facts, we’re able to move the needle in meaningful ways.”
Some things haven’t changed: the agency’s timeless, research-based approach and focus on meaningful work, and Ms. Kings gratitude for a career she has never taken for granted. “I get to wake up each morning and work hard, doing what I love with some of the industry’s top talent.” Her team, says King, is one of her biggest points of pride. “As a small agency, every person here is important and has fingerprints on virtually every project. Put us all together? The synergy is something to see, and the results are stunning.”
Small but mighty, King maintains the highest standards and produces work that’s smart, effective, and beautifully executed. It’s also consistently acclaimed—earning more than 135 national and international awards since 2015. Most of those campaigns shed light on critical public health issues, increase support for essential public services and inform communities about important initiatives. “The real win, though, is that these efforts are impacting communities across our Great Lakes State in significant and positive ways,” King shares.
King has kept her agency thriving and growing through challenging economic times, including the Great Recession, 9/11, and the COVID-19 pandemic. “It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s always been worth it,” she shares.
Founded in 1999 by Coleen King, King Media is a full-service marketing and advertising agency providing research-based solutions in response to client needs. Our core competencies include market and community research and analysis, brand development, creative and message development, strategic planning, graphic design, media planning and buying, and web design and development. King Media’s corporate office is centrally located in East Lansing, MI, with additional offices in Ada and St. Joseph, MI. For additional information and to view recent work, visit KingMediaNow.com.
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For more information, please contact King Media at 517.333.2048
