A lot is happening inside the old Evers Building.
The site of the well-known Evers Hardware Store is now Swash Labs, an ad agency making quite a buzz in town. Walk inside and you'll find 3,300 square feet of space dedicated to ensuring employees accomplish what they need to do in a relaxed atmosphere.
There is a pingpong table, a painting by a local artist on the old brick walls and two doggie greeters - Molly and Noodles - who will come by to welcome guests. DRC/David Minton Josh Berthume, left, leads a brainstorming session at Swash Labs on Wednesday in Denton. View larger More photos Photo store
"I wanted to have an unstructured space where we could relax as much as possible," said Josh Berthume, 32, CEO and creative director of the company. "I wanted people to look forward to coming to work."
Since January, Swash Labs at 110 W. Mulberry St. has emerged as a full-service creative agency focused on digital and emerging media, social business and brand development. It was co-founded by James Eliot, 65, who met Berthume at Eagle & Wheeler, one of Denton's oldest print companies.
"We started that around this time last year, and we had some really early successes, and we grew really fast," Berthume said. "The reason we moved over here was because we ran out of room."
Swash Labs' staff includes six creative staff members, three people in sales and three interns.
The goal of the company, according to Eliot, is to help businesses understand marketing and advertising with the new media.
"Changing the culture is important; it is very hard for people in different organizations to begin to do business in a new way," he said. "We do that painlessly for them."
Since May, the folks at Swash Labs have dedicated themselves to becoming agents of change for many companies in many fields. The clientele list includes companies in printing, environmental matters, banking and manufacturing.
"They don't necessarily know the language they should use, so we help them with that," Berthume said about what they offer businesses. "It is a bit of brand development, a bit of ad creation and a bit of message and communication."
Crystal McCormick, office manager of the Denton Veterinary Center, said that before using Swash Labs, the center only had an out-of-date website.
"They have set us up on all our media, on Twitter and Facebook," McCormick said. "They have broadened our clientele and helped us on advertising."
McCormick said social media have helped them acquire new clients, as much as 20 percent since the end of last year. And the clients really like the interaction on the pages.
"They talk about their pets, and people are happy," she said.
Another client is Florida-based Baker Distributing Co., which handles marketing and distribution of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, parts and supplies for residential and commercial applications.
Company marketing manager Kimberly Hubert said Swash Labs has provided her with a schedule for when to post updates to the company's website and has brought it into different platforms for more exposure.
Baker Distributing began working with Swash Labs in January. At that time, the company had 100 "likes" on Facebook, Hubert said, and as of Thursday, they have 654.
Baker Distributing has more than 200 locations across the U.S. in 20 states, so reaching its clientele and offering important information and educating customers has worked for the company.
"It is pretty good for our industry," she said. "We have an older generation of customers, so it is different for us."
Berthume said that with new digital media, the practice can be modified quickly and it can be cost-effective for the client.
"If something is not working, we can stop immediately and do something else, as opposed to having a billboard or a long-term contract with Yellow Pages," he said.
When asked if he knew of an organization that was using social media locally and being effective, Berthume mentioned the Denton Police Department.
"They are constantly not just putting out useful information, but they are also funny. They are engaging and they are willing to experiment a little bit," he said, referring to a day earlier this year when the department tweeted everything that came through the police scanner.
"That was awesome. I look at the Denton Police Department as one of the city departments that is civically engaged," Berthume said. "That isn't just giving me information in a new way, but that is listening, and listening is the really important part, especially for a government organization. I can't remember the last time I thought a police department was cool, and that was cool."
Berthume said he is happy to see more people, businesses and city departments embrace the new technologies, especially one that is growing so quickly.
According to Neilsen's The State of Social Media 3rd Quarter findings, nearly four in five active Internet users visit social media and blogs. On average, Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do any other U.S. website, the report said.
Berthume said Denton businesses and city departments have a huge opportunity to embrace the new platforms as well as digital communications.
"For a lot of cities, it is a challenge, not only from a logistic standpoint but from a legal one," he said. "Social media is still in its infancy, and whether they want to or not, people are going to have to figure it out."
KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com.
