New marketing group gets its Mojo on

The office for Mountain Mojo Group, which is located in a diminutive space in the back of a building off North San Francisco Street, has already become too small for the energy and growth of Flagstaff's newest marketing firm.

The firm was started by Rand Jenkins and Austin Leggett in January of this year, and has expanded quickly due to partnerships with local businesses like Little America and Second Chance Center for Animals.

"It made sense to come [downtown] and build a client base, and now we've got a pretty solid client base here in Flagstaff … but now we definitely need more space," Jenkins said. "Lots and lots more space."

Of Mountain Mojo Group's core team of seven employees, the majority are NAU alumni, and they've also hired eight interns from NAU, as well as a collection of freelance employees with whom they work on a project-by-project basis.

"We really wanted to tap into that local pool of talent here in town, and try to get as much work that was being outsourced not just to Phoenix, but out of the country, and keep it here," Jenkins said.

Mountain Mojo Group offers services in web and social media development, graphic design, advertising and more. They work with beginning and established businesses and can help clients create or rebuild their brand by building new logos and websites, or can assist in creating commercials and visual advertisements.

"It doesn't matter what you do, what your business is, from being a plumber to Snowbowl — if you want to market and get your idea out there … we can do it," Leggett said.

Some of the clients they serve include the Lumberyard Brewing Company, Flagstaff Hullabaloo and Arizona Irrigation and Maintenance. They worked with Little America to market their property remodel and new restaurant, and they helped Second Chance Center for Animals completely redesign the appearance of their brand.

"We've been really lucky. It's a small town, so word of mouth is huge. And also a lot of people have reached out to us … we kind of chat up the business and let people know what we do," Jenkins said.

Jenkins's roots are in events: he co-founded The Green Room and worked as the general manager of The Pepsi Amphitheater. While Mountain Mojo Group does assist with elements of event planning, the team tries to avoid acting as principal organizers for events due to the labor-intensive nature of the job and the feeling that it takes away from other projects.

Jenkins said the prices for their services are largely determined on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on the client's needs, but charges for graphic design and social media management can run roughly from $80 to $100 dollars, with web development costing a slightly higher amount.

They've also recently partnered with eCreations, a Phoenix-based web design and development company. Leggett said that the company's expertise in coding and web design is a beneficial match for the creative expertise of their own team.

Mountain Mojo Group is invested in supporting local businesses through a partnership with the Sustainable Economic Development Initiative of Northern Arizona. During the summer the team held a workshop on marketing for small businesses that was attended by nearly twice the number of people they had been expecting. They're planning to hold more workshops in the future.

"I would like to raise the bar for almost every business in town for how they perceive marketing and how they do it," said Jonathan Kersten, the social media director and client coordinator for Mountain Mojo Group.

In upcoming months, Mountain Mojo Group is also hoping to expand their services into the national market to serve clients outside northern Arizona.

Source: New marketing group gets its Mojo on