January 13, 2020
Cape Girardeau Agencies Combine to Enhance Offerings and Facilitate Growth
[Cape Girardeau, MO, January 13, 2020] – Effective January 1, 2020, two of the premier names in Cape Girardeau, Missouri for marketing and digital services have combined forces. Red Letter Communications has acquired Element 74.
Red Letter Communications, previously co-owned by Jim Riley and Bruce Robert of Cape Girardeau, has operated for nearly forty years as a full-service marketing communications agency focused on providing innovative creative strategy and messaging support for local, regional and national clients.
Element 74, founded by Chris Edmonds of Cape Girardeau, has operated for twenty years building web properties and software solutions that support businesses in Southeast Missouri and throughout the nation.
Both brands will remain intact while the organization determines how best to integrate services and build an enhanced portfolio of product offerings.
“Marketing continues to evolve at a very fast pace,” said Red Letter CEO Jim Riley. “In this industry, if you are not looking ahead, you are falling behind. We see an increased need in the communications world for the blending of strategic and strong creative with dynamic technical capabilities that take full advantage of all the different ways in which brands and businesses can engage customers. We feel this combining of resources helps enrich our portfolio and enhance the services being offered by both groups.”
The Red Letter ownership group will expand as part of this acquisition. Chris Edmonds will join this group and continue to serve as president of Element 74.
“I have known Jim and the Red Letter team my entire 20-year career as friends, associates, mentors, and competitors,” said Chris Edmonds. “I have a tremendous respect for the organization. I am equally excited about our teams coming together and enthusiastic about what this will mean in terms of deepening resources and enhancing our ability to develop solutions for our clients.”
Red Letter VP and General Manager Trent Summers will also join the ownership group.
“This move brings together some significant firepower in terms of talent, strategy, content creation, digital and traditional marketing, web services, and software development,” said Red Letter President Bruce Robert. “This is part of our mission to relentlessly serve our clients while providing them effective ways to grow the connections they have with their customers.”
The two agency groups will operate out of offices at Regents Park and a newly remodeled office on Rust Avenue in Cape Girardeau that will house Element 74 and a new Content Lab studio.
Red Letter Communications, Inc. was founded in 1981 and operates as a full-service marketing communications agency. The agency creates marketing communications strategy and programs for retail, corporate and business-to-business clients on a local, regional and nationwide basis.
Element 74 was founded in 2000 and provides fully developed solutions in the form of custom software, web properties, digital marketing and content creation – and serves clients around the United States and abroad.