As we lurch back to work after the holiday break, we thought it would be fun to offer our devoted Peepers a look back at the Fast Horse year that was. It’s tough to capture everything in brief post, but here are some 2012 highlights.

Big Promotion

We started the year in a big way as we announced the promotion of Scott Broberg to Senior Vice President. Scott has been a big part of our success and growth over the years, and has quietly asserted his high standards on virtually every aspect of our business.

New Faces

We spent countless hours assessing hundreds of job candidates over the past year. Recruiting and retaining the very best people is critical to our success, and in 2012, we were delighted to welcome eight fun, talented new people to the stable, including:
• Jenny Zanatta — Design Associate
• Shaun Shaver – IT Director
• Diane Fittipaldi – Senior Director
• Katie Rice – Team Assistant
• Natalie Marquez – Client Relationship Director
• Jamie Millard – Client Relationship Manager
• Andy Dahm – Content Consultant
• Tim Holtz – Associate

Continuing Partnerships

Over the past 12 months, we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to continue partnerships with a wide variety of companies and organizations. Among other things, we helped our clients launch new products and services, design and create web sites and other digital and print assets, conduct media relations and influencer outreach, create video and written content, execute traditional and non-traditional advertising campaigns, devise brand strategies, manage crises and execute special events. We’re grateful to following for their continued confidence in us:

• The Coca-Cola Company
• Nationwide
• UnitedHealth Group
• Marvin Windows and Doors
• Next Big Thing/SweeTango
• OptiMine
• Navigate Forward
• BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota
• Liberty Diversified Industries/Seeyond
• The Bachelor Farmer/Marvel Bar/Askov Finlayson
• Tilia
• K12 Inc.
• General Mills/Haagen Dasz
• Told Development
• Stemilt Growers
• Indian Health Board
• Vega Productions/Minnesota Beatle Project

New Clients:

We also had the opportunity to bring on a wide variety of exciting new clients in 2012. We know that these companies have many great options, both locally and nationally. We were thrilled that the following selected Fast Horse as their marketing partner last year:

• Best Buy
• Champs Sports
• National Marrow Donor Program/Be the Match
• The Arc
• Simon Malls
• Wilder Foundation
• Jefferson Action
• Pearson’s Candy Company
• STEELE Fitness
• UrbanWorks Architecture
• CaringBridge
• Rapson-Inc.
• Brunsfield America
• Alaris
• Cupcake Bakery

Awards

Cydney shows off the hardware

Fast Horse continued to establish its reputation as one of the most decorated marketing firms in Minnesota, as we successfully competed for a wide variety of national and local awards in 2012. Among our honors:

SABRE Awards
• Finalist, Diamond SABRE, Superior Achievement in Reputation Management – Marvin Windows and Doors
• Finalist, Gold SABRE, Corporate Media Relations – Marvin Windows and Doors
• Finalist, Gold SABRE, Food Service – Tilia
• Finalist, Silver SABRE, Print Media Placement – Marvin Windows and Doors

Minnesota Business Magazine
• 100 Best Companies to Work For
• Top Marketer Award

Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal
• Best Places to Work
• Jefferson Award for Corporate Giving

AIGA Minnesota Design Show
• Campaign Winner – Tilia

2012 Minnesota PRSA Classics
• Industry Campaign of the Year (Consumer Products) | SweeTango: A Bumper Crop of Buzz
• Multimedia | Coca-Cola Goes Around the World in a Day
• Media Relations (Business/Industry – Budget Less than $75,000) | SweeTango’s Bumper Crop Dances Off Shelves
• Community Relations (Government/Nonprofit) | Fixing a Hole in Minnesota Music Education
• Marketing Services (New – Budget Less than $75,000) | Tilia – Setting a Table for Success
• Crisis/Issues Management | Defending the SweeTango

Record Revenue Growth:

To top it all off, 2012 was a record year for Fast Horse, as we grew our business by 45 percent and finished the year with nearly $4 million in topline revenue. In fact, May through October each ranked among the six biggest individual months we’ve had in our 11-year history.

A lot of hard work went into all of this. I owe a huge thank you to the incredibly talented and dedicated Fast Horse crew who made 2012 a year to remember. We also could not have done this without our clients. We are honored to have the opportunity to work with all of you, and appreciate the trust you have placed in us and value your continued partnership. And finally, thanks to the many vendors, contractors and freelancers who so ably supported our work this year. Your commitment to helping us achieve the very high standards we set for ourselves is invaluable.

2013 is already shaping up to be even more transformative for Fast Horse. Among other things, we have partnered with a legendary Minnesota architect and plan to break ground on a major renovation to our headquarters building this spring. We also will officially unveil an exciting new strategic initiative that will significantly evolve our business model through content marketing.

The best place to keep up with us along the way? Right here at the Idea Peepshow, where more than 120,000 of you stopped in for one reason or another in 2012. Thanks for doing so!

Happy New Year!