Mike Kenny is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of AArow Advertising, a unique spin on advertising. He is a graduate of San Diego State University.
In one sentence, how would you describe your business?
We are an international marketing company that combines the power of human interaction and the talent of our AArrow Sign Spinners to create cost-effective marketing campaigns for our clients.
Good advertising depends upon a unique approach. In what way is AArrow advertising different from other advertisers out there?
Most advertisers think they have to use the ‘shotgun approach’, meaning they think if they throw enough advertisements out into world people are bound to look at it. This makes people feel disenchanted with the overbearing amount of ads they are exposed to. On the other hand, we believe in targeting consumers one by one, so they receive the individual advertising experience that actually makes our client’s message ‘stick’ in their heads.
What sparked the idea?
When Max and I were 16-year-olds, we got a job where we were asked to hold a sign on the street corner. The only problem for us was that it was probably the most boring job in the world. We grew up in the Southern California extreme sports culture and, as skateboarders and surfers ourselves, we started doing tricks with our signs to entertain ourselves. And it turned out to be an effective advertising solution that can be seen around the world.
When you started the business in 2002, what were your first three steps?
The first thing we did was invent an aerodynamic AArrow that came with a few failed attempts. Second, we made a skateboard-style music video of our sign spinning to show off our talent and skill. Third, we headed to the streets, targeting hundreds of local businesses, to sell our innovative and unique service, only to be turned down by every single one. Eventually, persistence and a true belief in the concept led to our first client: The Healthy Back Store in San Diego.
You were only in high school at the time you started AArrow Advertising. How did you know what steps to take business-wise at such a young age?
We had just graduated high school and learned a lot by trial and error; evaluating what works and what doesn’t and adopting the approaches deemed the most successful. We really we couldn’t have done it without the support of our family, friends and mentors. When you don’t know what steps to take you have to ask.
Where did you look to find funding for AArrow Advertising when you first started out? Was it difficult?
We started AArrow Advertising with almost no money and to this day have had to rely little on outside financing. This has forced us to be resourceful and to become a profitable business very quickly, as there was no other way for us to make it happen.
Currently, you employ more than 750 youth between the ages of 16-24. How do you promote yourself to this age group as an employer?
AArrow Advertising has developed such a strong culture and recognizable brand that we attract a great deal of youth that share our same core beliefs by continuing to build the brand and being an active member in the community and in local school districts. We have developed strong youth hiring partnerships with city governments, school districts and other youth-hiring organizations in every city we operate in that assist in our hiring needs.
Why do you have such a strong focus on youth employment?
Our drive to start AArrow Advertising came from a desire within us and our friends to not have to work most of the jobs that are available to youth that don’t challenge, motivate or interest the employee base. The 16 to 24 age group is often overlooked when it comes to employment opportunities, and I believe that about 70% of this age group is currently not working. So we decided to make youth employment a core focus of ours and the young people we employ have responded to the tasks at hand with an immense amount of energy and enthusiasm.
Other than being of young age, what qualifications are required of employees to become skilled spinners?
Age really doesn’t matter in becoming an AArrow Sign Spinner. The most important quality is the attitude you possess and your competitive drive. If you are a positive person and you believe this would be a fun and exciting job, chances are this is the right place.
The best spinners are recognized as “AArrow All-stars” in your various locations ranging from Washington, D.C. to Las Vegas. How does one get to this level?
Serious amounts of practice. Our current World Champion, 17-year-old San Diego native Teddy Hale,
has been sign spinning for four years now and continues to practice every day; just as any other athlete would. The sign spinners on the top 10 list are there because they continue to push the limits of this sport higher and higher.
Your clients include Fortune 100-500 companies, sports and entertainment industries, websites, food chains, and celebrities. How did you attract such a broad range of clientele? Who are your most frequent clients?
We attract such a broad range of clients because of the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of our advertising approach. This advertising concept works for the smallest and the largest businesses because of how many people we can get to look at the client’s message. Advertising based on
human-to-human interaction will work for every client from Snoop Dogg to Staples. Our most frequent clients continue to be luxury apartment complexes, mobile phone providers, restaurant chains and retail stores.
You recently started to grant franchises of AArrow throughout the nation. Why? What analysis did you do before making this decision?
We have been interested in the concept for years and became convinced in 2007 after we had been receiving an overwhelming amount of phone calls from people all across the world asking how they could own a piece of the business. Since our concept is centered on local operations, it makes sense to have an entrepreneur operate an AArrow Advertising city.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce awarded AArow Advertising the Most Outstanding Community Involvement Award in 2008. Was community involvement always your intention?
Yes, AArrow Advertising is a very community-based organization. We hire youth, drive traffic into local businesses and use the power of our advertising to make a difference in the world by raising awareness about important social issues and needs.
It looks as if every member of the company has a lot of fun. How do you make sure that despite all of the work it requires working with AArrow Advertising is enjoyable?
We truly believe that you have to enjoy what you do since you dedicate such a large portion of your life to work. The concept is naturally fun and the AArrow Advertising employees are here because they have a passion for the sport of sign spinning. It’s a job where you get people to smile and applaud for you all day long… what could be more fun that that?
Where do you see AArow Advertising in the next three years?
Our business expansion plans in the next three years include 50 major U.S. AArrow Advertising markets and 20 countries with AArrow Advertising operations across them, as well as securing top brands as our sponsors. We also see sign spinners from around the globe traveling to compete in the AArrow World Sign Spinning Championship which (of course) will be on ESPN by that time. Most importantly, we see ourselves still having fun and still spinning every chance we get.
