Job for a Lifetime

BY KAYLA PRASEK

What was initially meant to be a job that lasted only a couple of years has turned into a lasting, 40-year career for Roger Reierson.

Reierson, CEO of Flint Group and AdFarm, graduated from Bemidji State University in Minnesota in 1973 with a degree in marketing. He then managed a golf course and worked for an advertising agency in Thief River Falls, Minn. In 1976, Reierson and his wife moved to Fargo, N.D., so she could finish school while he took a job as an account manager at Flint, a full-service marketing and advertising agency. “My intentions were to spend a few years there, but I had a great relationship with Harold Flint. When he was ready to sell the business, he asked if I would purchase it.”

Reierson has guided Flint through expansions to Grand Forks, N.D., Duluth and St. Cloud in Minnesota and more than 95 added employees. “When we were a smaller agency, I spent most of my time on client work and took care of company management in my free time. As we grew, my client duties went down and my CEO duties went up. In the last few years, we’ve put in a management team at each unit, so I’ve had more time for client work.”

That passion for working with clients extends into his care for his employees. “I enjoy watching my employees and their careers grow. Not everyone stays here, but maybe we helped them grow, and they left to advance their careers. Or maybe they have stayed here and they’ve continued to grow.”

While the people prove to be the most rewarding part of Reierson’s career, ever-changing technology is the most challenging. “Over the last 15 years, we’ve worked to stay ahead of the technology and tools we have at our disposal. We recognize it’s our job to bring those tools to our clients.”

That ever-changing technology has reshaped the marketing and advertising industry, Reierson says. “Our business is completely different than it was 20 years ago. The process, tools and technology are completely different. However, the talent base you need to be successful is still the creative people who are problem solvers and know how to position brands and set strategy.” Reierson says he’s also learning how to manage millennials, and “it’s fun to learn the mindset of a new generation and find out what drives them and their career paths.”

As for the marketing and advertising industry, Reierson says “this business is always exciting,” but the surge of entrepreneurs and startup companies are making the job more interesting. “Being able to sit down and help them plan and build their brand has been exciting,” he says. The social media side of the industry also continues to be an “explosion for us in the way conversation happens. It used to be one-way, and now there’s a continuing conversation. It’s exciting trying to manage that. It has led to growth in what we offer as an agency.” While he touts the technology that has proved helpful to the industry, Reierson also advises not to let “technology rule the way you do work. This is still a people business, and face-to-face conversation is still paramount.”

As for his advice to businesses considering outsourcing their marketing and public relations, Reierson points out the benefits of going through an agency. “The concept we have (at Flint) is a lot of specialists — PR, technology, email, TV scripts, direct mail — which most communications departments can’t afford. Going to an agency can give you all the tools you need to be successful. You get a whole integrated team where everyone on the team knows what’s going on, and you get perspective, which can allow your company to look at things in a different way.”

Reierson stays involved on the local, state and national levels, as past chairman of the Fargo Downtown Business Association, Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce, Greater North Dakota State Chamber Association, and has held positions on the Roundtable for Higher Education, Higher Learning Commission-North Central Association, Xcel Energy advisory board, Northern Plains Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and has served as past president of Advertising Network International.

Reierson was also installed as the development chief of Obo Adakaba in the Awutu-Mankessim traditional area of Ghana in November 2015. Reierson and Delore Zimmerman, CEO of Praxis Strategy Group of Fargo, have worked together on economic development projects in Ghana and opened Praxis Africa there. The development chief is responsible for collaborating with the main chief to develop a social and economic development strategy for the designated community. Reierson says they are working with farmers to help them grow better crops, market those crops more efficiently and make farm-