nwasianweekly.com
July 5, 2008

Tracy Wong

Wongdoody achieves yin & O’yang of money & art

By Michelle Kang
Northwest Asian Weekly

Wongdoody has its fingerprints all over Seattle.

If you’ve seen the neon Seattle International Film Festival posters, eaten downtown at FareStart or visited the Dalai Lama’s Seeds of Compassion Web site, you’ve been touched in some way by this ad agency that oozes with creativity.

Tracy Wong, chairman and executive creative director, began the company in 1993 with Pat Doody. The two met when they were both at another agency. After-hours discussions between the two led to a light-bulb moment when both realized each had a similar desire to start his own business. Wong says, “We looked at each other and said, ‘Hey! He’s the account guy on the business end and I’m the creative guy. So it’s a good combination.’”

The pairing also provided a fast and obvious way to come up with a business name. Saying Wongdoody aloud may make you laugh, but it’s memorable and quirky. To further play on the partnership of contrasts, the company’s green lucky clover yin-yang logo references the founders’ two cultures simultaneously. Wong says, “It’s a yin and

‘O’yang’ because Pat is Irish. It’s a smashing of Chinese and Irish.”

In an industry where creativity is tempered by the bottom line of sales, Wongdoody has been successful at balancing both traits. Starting with just two employees, the company now has offices in Seattle and in Los Angeles, with 150 employees and $155 million in billings this past year.

Wong recalls the fear of starting a business without any work. “We were just scratching and clawing. In terms of a business plan, we didn’t have any. We just started. And if it didn’t work out, well, you’d just have to go back into a regular paying job.”

But there is resolve in Wong’s voice when he talks about his company and reaching beyond the status quo. The courage to be creative, he explains, has helped them stand out. He says, “It’s a lot easier to do what everybody else is doing, even though it’s a total waste of money. It’s much harder to have courage.”

It may help that the company has been building its roots in Seattle for the past 15 years. Neither as high-profile as Los Angeles nor as high-powered as New York, the city is fertile with different strains of creative power. Wong explains, “It’s becoming an international city. I’ve been in this market for 17 years now and I’ve really seen it change. It used to be very provincial, very conservative and off-the-map. But you have huge key industries. You have technology in Microsoft, you have Starbucks, you have Boeing and you’ve got Amazon. For the size it is, it gets a lot of more attention than other cities of the same size. I think now it’s the 11th largest market. When I got here, it was the 23rd largest market. In terms of advertising rates, it was the same size as Columbus in Ohio.”

As Seattle gains national and international business prominence, so competition also increases. More than other industries, marketing is dependent on standing apart from the pack, including predicting trends. Wong foresees advertising taking a more interactive, immersive experience, including a more Web-based presence.

A successful example of using the Web in marketing is Wongdoody’s work for the Department of Health’s “No Stank You” campaign to prevent teenage smoking. Now in its third year, the campaign offers facts and information on the dangers of smoking online and rewards readers with free hip T-shirts that rival the fashions found in boutique stores. Wong says, “It’s actually made a big difference in reducing tobacco usage among teens. That’s big. That’s public good. And you have to do it in an ingenious way because teens are very market savvy. They know when they’re being talked to by old men and they run the other way. So you have to be very mindful to be as interesting and creative as they are.”

Wong approaches his craft with a level head that balances his creative energy. Growing up, he always knew he had a talent for art, but had never considered a career in the fine arts. He remembers having difficulty explaining his passion for art school to relatives in the medical and engineering fields. He says, “It’s hard to explain to your Chinese father that you want to go to art school. Where’s the practicality in that? How are you going to make money? … But I was always good at art so I tried to find a way to practically apply it and make money.”

Now as a veteran in the business, Wong has a prepared answer when asked what it is that he does: “It’s commerce artfully told. You use your artistic and creative abilities against practical business problems.”

So for every engineer and doctor-to-be, there may be hope for the oddball creative entrepreneur. Just be sure to have a funky logo and a memorable name.

Visit Wongdoody at www.wongdoody.com.

Michelle Kang can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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