Today we’d like to introduce you to Romulo Martinez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been fascinated by marketing from a young age. I loved commercials as a kid, and when I first saw Michael Jordan advertising Nike Air shoes, I had an “Aha!” moment about ads and sponsorship. And I’ve always been driven by creativity and curiosity. I got my BA in Marketing and International Business from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and my MBA from Arizona State University, and I’ve been working in marketing for over 20 years now, both in-house and at agencies.
I’m from Venezuela, but my career has spanned five countries now. In 2017, I moved to Orlando with my family and we purchased an established local branding, web and graphic design, and marketing agency called CREATE180 Design. It had been around since 2007, and the team was doing interesting things for interesting clients, especially with branding, websites, and content marketing.
I was excited to build off what was there, with clear ideas how to help the agency grow and better serve clients with additional marketing services. The head copywriter stayed on and is still part of our team today. We still focus on branding as the foundation of everything we do. But we’ve expanded the original web design services to include things like e-commerce sites and high-conversion, low-cost microsites. We also have an expert video production team, an award-winning graphic design team (led by my wife Valery, who’s a logo design master), more robust social media services, event marketing services, and more. And, we now offer bilingual services for the Spanish-speaking market.
We’re proud to have the flexibility and scalability to serve clients ranging from small local businesses to multinational corporations. And we’re proud to see our clients of all sizes and across so many industries achieve greater success.
Outside of work, I keep busy with Valery and our son Max. I also love to explore Orlando’s great food and craft beer offerings, run and play sports with Max, and play some video games too when I can find the time.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Recently, I’ve been focused on building CREATE180 Design since we took over. The transition to new ownership is always challenging, with new people coming into processes developed by and for other people. And there are always some clients that choose to part ways just because of the change. And a few months after we bought the agency, the Orlando area got shut down by Hurricane Irma.
When we bought the agency, we’d just moved to Orlando from Miami. There’s a much more open, fertile market here, and often there’s a period of quick growth. That meant some adjustments to the way we communicated our message and appealed to local entrepreneurs. Especially when it came to explaining the value of a well-developed, thoughtfully branded website as opposed to one that just looks like an online sales brochure. With branding, it’s all about seeing the big picture and recognizing the long-term investment. But sometimes, people only focus on the current moment.
Of course, the pandemic has been hard on everyone. One of the first reactions businesses had was to scale back or discontinue their marketing spending. But, as it became clear that doing business online was the way we’d all get through covid, the agency gained momentum and a lot of new clients.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about CREATE180 Design?
We offer a wide range of branding, web design, graphic design, and marketing services. We specialize in branding and helping our clients define their “Why us,” their target audience, and the best way to communicate that message to those people. We always start with this, regardless of which services a client comes looking for, and that’s a big differentiator for us. And it helps us achieve better results for our clients. We’re also known in particular for the digital magazines we create for our clients for content, email, and social media marketing purposes.
We like businesses that want to tell their story, and we’re boutique in the sense that we can now be selective about who we work with. But we’re also boutique in the sense that we offer highly personalized, highly communicative service.
We’d like people to know that if they have a company with integrity and a story to tell, and they’re looking to grow their reputation and sales, we can help them do so through thoughtful branding and smart multi-channel marketing. We’re good listeners, and we work as partners with our clients, embracing the peculiarities that make them unique.
Information about Romulo Martinez
I’ve been fascinated by marketing from a young age. I loved commercials as a kid, and when I first saw Michael Jordan advertising Nike Air shoes, I had an “Aha!” moment about ads and sponsorship. And I’ve always been driven by creativity and curiosity. I got my BA in Marketing and International Business from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and my MBA from Arizona State University, and I’ve been working in marketing for over 20 years now, both in-house and at agencies.
I’m from Venezuela, but my career has spanned five countries now. In 2017, I moved to Orlando with my family and we purchased an established local branding, web and graphic design, and marketing agency called CREATE180 Design. It had been around since 2007, and the team was doing interesting things for interesting clients, especially with branding, websites, and content marketing.
I was excited to build off what was there, with clear ideas how to help the agency grow and better serve clients with additional marketing services. The head copywriter stayed on and is still part of our team today. We still focus on branding as the foundation of everything we do. But we’ve expanded the original web design services to include things like e-commerce sites and high-conversion, low-cost microsites. We also have an expert video production team, an award-winning graphic design team (led by my wife Valery, who’s a logo design master), more robust social media services, event marketing services, and more. And, we now offer bilingual services for the Spanish-speaking market.
We’re proud to have the flexibility and scalability to serve clients ranging from small local businesses to multinational corporations. And we’re proud to see our clients of all sizes and across so many industries achieve greater success.
Outside of work, I keep busy with Valery and our son Max. I also love to explore Orlando’s great food and craft beer offerings, run and play sports with Max, and play some video games too when I can find the time.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Start With Why – Simon Sinek Zero to One – Peter Thiel
Intentional Living – John C Maxwell
This Is Marketing – Seth Godin
Podcast – Serial , Planet Money, Renegades: Born in the USA
Blog: Hubspot marketing blog, Contently blog, Seth Godin’s blog
Pricing:
- Websites starting at $600
- Content marketing packages starting at $800
- Free 15-minute consultation
Contact Info:
- Email: info@create180design.com
- Website: www.create180design.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CREATE180Design
