We market things people make
Firebrand PDX is a small Portland marketing agency for makers, craftspeople and the shops that sell what they make. You keep making the product. We build the website, email, ads and posts that sell it, and set them up so a team of two can keep them running.
Andy Swanson
Role
Founder and Strategist
Started
Firebrand Creative, 2008
Before that
Bayer HealthCare
Also co-owns
Vertical Grind Coffee and Renovo Amp Works
Based in
Portland, Oregon
I left Bayer HealthCare in 2008 to start Firebrand Creative. I kept watching small businesses with great ideas hire one person for social, another for email and a freelancer for the website. Nobody looked at how the pieces fit together, so customers slipped through the gaps between them.
Firebrand PDX is the hyper-local Portland focused side of that work, sized for smaller businesses. We use the same methods we use for audio, coffee and commerce brands, set up for an owner who is also the one packing orders.
I'm on the other side of the table too. I co-own Vertical Grind Coffee and Renovo Amp Works, so I know what it feels like when marketing has to pay for itself this month.
"I've seen what happens when marketing is treated as an afterthought. I've also seen what happens when every channel pulls in the same direction. The difference is not a bigger budget. It's a better system."
We make things too
Most agencies have never had to sell something they made. We do it every week. We roast coffee for Vertical Grind, build guitar amps at Renovo, bake bread and pastries, and make music.
When we tell you a product page needs better photos, or your market booth needs a sign-up sheet, it's because we tried it on our own products first.
Roast Coffee
Guitar Amps
Bread and Pastries
Music & Gear
Who we work with
Portland makers and small businesses that sell something real. The owners we built this for usually look like one of these:
- A furniture builder with a six-month waitlist and no email list.
- A roaster selling at three markets and online, with a different price in each place.
- A shop owner who knows Instagram matters and hasn't posted since spring.
If you make the product during the day and do the marketing at night, this is for you.
How we work
What we promise
We look at the whole picture.
If something is broken in a channel we don't run, we'll tell you. Your sales matter more to us than the part we bill for.
You see everything.
What we're doing, what it costs and what it's bringing in. If something isn't working, you hear it from us before you notice it yourself.
What we ask of you
Tell us before big changes.
A new product, a price change or a new wholesale account changes how we market. Surprises break systems.
Send us the raw material.
You know your product and your voice better than we do. Photos, stories and the reasons you make things the way you do are what we build with.
What we believe
The sale is the middle of the story. Most small brands go quiet after someone buys, and that's where repeat orders and referrals come from. We plan for what happens after the box ships.
Honest marketing sells longer. We won't write ads that promise more than your product delivers. A customer who feels misled doesn't come back, and they tell their friends.
Small teams need systems more than big ones. A good welcome email or a posting plan you can keep up with does the work of a hire you can't afford yet.
Amazon and retail
When your product is ready for Amazon or store shelves, we work with Northwest Commerce Group. They handle Amazon listings, Amazon ads and retail buyer relationships. We keep all of it connected to your website and email.
Visit Northwest Commerce Group