Advertising Agencies in Wheeling and Steubenville: The Local Agency Guide
A new crop of agencies have emerged since the last time I wrote a blog with this topic, and today we will find out where they went and who is new on the scene.
If your business has been around for a while, you’ve only had one or two ad agencies to select from if you wanted a local company representing your marketing. Many of the local businesses decided to go direct with the local media companies. Instead of buying media with an agency, they talked directly with WTOV, WTRF, iHeartMedia, and Lamar. Many of the local companies didn’t find the value in a third-party ad agency. And I don’t blame them. There were some less-than-impressive companies out there.
Written in July 2020, I made a “listicle” outlining our local options in Wheeling-Steubenville. I remember scrolling through social late at night and spotting a so-called marketer announce their agency. Annoyed, I decided to write this article over the next few hours just to ensure their company would not show up for any valid search results. It worked (and proved that I’m salty, but also good at what I do). I’m not necessarily annoyed by anything today, but genuinely curious about who is out there and who is showing up in search.
Advertising Agency as a Google Category
What’s interesting and quite fascinating is that Google Business Profile retired the Advertising Agency category. After doing a minor audit on our profile, we saw that our category was missing. With a little searching, it looks like we had to change our category to Marketing Agency or Internet Marketing Agency. So, is the term advertising agency dead?
Well, I can tell you from experience that the search volume isn’t there. We still have plenty of searches for Web Design Company and Social Media Company, but not nearly as many customers looking for an ad agency. Maybe we can blame Mad Men being off the air for a decade, or people are looking for direct solutions instead of a full firm. Either way, we have to look and search a bit differently this time around to find the major players.
Advertising Agencies That Are Gone (or Near Defunct)
Wheelhouse Creative (Closed)
Wheelhouse Creative going out of business might have been the biggest news story of 2025 in the advertising world. I remember seeing this company emerge from the ground up and then witnessed it collapse (or probably dissolve because it wasn’t worth it). Wheelhouse Creative was anchored by Bordas and Bordas and Panhandle Cleaning. These mega advertisers spent enough money that the 15% ad spend was enough to keep a staff employed and paid. They did get a few other notable clients, including Oglebay. Beyond that, most businesses I spoke with wouldn’t work with Wheelhouse because they knew they would never be the top priority or focus.
Now, Wheelhouse might have morphed into a smaller agency that just does video. They originally bought out a company called Shooters in Martins Ferry years ago, and I believe the video production team was still doing freelance work. But the web department was abandoned, and we had to rescue a few clients that were left without a host and webmaster. From what I understand, the anchor clients went in-house and have their own marketing teams.
Folklore (Closed)
It’s tough for me to say this company was actually ever really a real agency. This was a group of freelancers that marketed themselves as an agency, but primarily piecemealed things together. Although a smart approach, this created quite a problem in the business community when the freelancers were pointing to the others when a project wasn’t complete. There were quite a few occasions where we picked up phone calls from clients that found out freelance agencies aren’t quite the same as a full-service, in-house agency.
I believe some of the contractors are still out there doing their thing, but the Folklore website put up an away message saying they were going away for a while. Later, the website was completely gone, leaving a Wix landing page.
Em-Media (Dormant)
This is an odd one. This is the company I worked for when they had over a dozen employees and three offices. This is also a company that hasn’t updated their website or social platforms for five years. For a company that offers web design and social media, it’s hard to think they are doing much more than media buying these days.
The owner, Jim Emmerling, was quite an enigma back in 2015-2016. With several large clients like Trinity Health Systems and Eastern Gateway Community College, he built an impressive team and even expanded into Pittsburgh. But over the next few years, things seemed to change. I was contracted in 2019 to build them a new website. As of writing, it’s the same homepage, pictures, and content. There were some new blogs added by a now ex-employee, but it doesn’t appear they are doing the volume they once did.
The team section is empty on the site, so I’m guessing they have gone back to the freelancer model and are contracting help when needed. But this is a big change since the last time I wrote about them in 2020.
Prichard Consulting (Unsure)
The only reason I’m including this name is because he was on my original list. I won’t lie. I haven’t heard this name in years. Granted, I’ve only interacted with them on a few occasions, so I don’t have much experience with what they offered in the first place.
What I remember is that he was primarily a media buyer and a one-man band. When viewing his website, it has a timestamp of 2019 and doesn’t have any signs of being current.
Not sure if this is still a real full-time gig or a few clients on the side. But they still pay for hosting and a domain, so let’s assume he is in business.
Evolve Creative (Closed)
This company wasn’t on the original list, but they are worth noting because of an interesting trend that seems to happen. Evolve Creative was put together by the team who owns the Glessner Group. This company has a financial advisory team, accounting firm, and insurance. Lots of B2B going on. And they had enough going on internally that they hired a graphic designer for the firm. Wouldn’t it make sense to offer these services to other clients? Here comes Evolve.
Funny thing is, the graphic designer originally talked with us and had us give a quote for a website for the new company. It didn’t pan out, and they contracted with a company out of Pittsburgh.
Cut this story a bit short, the business didn’t last. They did hire a social media rep, but when she left for a different job, it wasn’t worth keeping this leg of the company afloat. There’s a lot more to an agency than graphics and social media, and I imagine they realized this.
Although the Google Profile remains active, this business refers all leads, and the experiment didn’t quite work.
Still Around and Kicking
Pierce Media (Active)
I’ve known Tim Pierce for years, contracting him in my early days at Comcast Spotlight to film commercials. Over the years, I’ve noticed he’s expanded his team and services. We’ve worked with each other on occasion, but since we typically offer the same services, we stay friendly but aren’t necessarily making referrals.
From the looks of it, Pierce Media might have picked up some of the Em-Media clients. When you look at their portfolio, you see some familiar Steubenville names. I also do believe they grabbed a few contractors that helped Em-Media in the past. When you search the website and the team section, you only have Tim listed, so maybe it’s all contractors. Hard to say.
Not to be cruel, but to be honest, the website is a bit shaky. Tim’s bread and butter has always been video, but it looks like they offer everything. Is everything done in-house? Certainly not. Like most agencies in the area, they likely outsource the paid advertising to Nittany Digital in Pennsylvania. The websites are made using Wix, so it’s probably a third-party contractor. Seems like that might keep costs down and make things operational. I would be interested in learning a bit more about the team, and right now, that’s not on the website.
Beyond Marketing (Active)
Okay, if Wheelhouse Creative didn’t go out of business, this would have been the one I was interested in.
Beyond Marketing was literally dead and inches from closing. How do I know this? Because I had to rescue a half dozen of their clients.
When their web designer packed up and left, all of the web clients found their websites going down, getting hacked, or not having a contact person for updates. Emails to the owner (including mine) went unanswered. If the business was still alive, it wasn’t the creative end. I honestly took them off all of my SEO tracking services. Their website and social went dark. Another one bites the dust.
And then one day I saw a new logo and what appeared to be a 7-page weekend-build website. Turns out, one of the local millionaires decided to buy out (or partner with) the owner and kickstart this brand.
And they were aggressive. A few of the fallen sales reps from Wheelhouse made their way to their team. They also recruited a few other media reps from the community to help build out their sales army. And from the looks of it, they contract out the creative. Grindley Productions, a former notable video house, seems to be featured in most of their social footage. Their graphic designer has been using their personal email address for correspondence, so I’m guessing the sales and administrative staff are the full-time hires.
But I will say that Beyond is trying to make a comeback. I’m not entirely impressed with their approach (lots of canned AI graphic social posts and basic content), but they are pushing toward a full-service agency. They’ve landed a few bigger clients, most recently Belmont Savings Bank. They are active in the networking world, sponsoring events and shaking hands.
Are they doing good work? Not sure. Are they making the effort? More so than a lot.
Hardy and Hardy Media Marketing (Active)
Wayne and Karen Hardy are two of the best people I know. Yes, they are longtime allies and partners of Eric Hersey Web Design and Strong Minded Agency, but I would genuinely say this if no money was ever exchanged again.
We all worked together at Em-Media. Wayne had an extensive background in advertising, and Karen worked in radio and billboard. Both know quite a lot about traditional advertising. And they would be the first to admit that they bring in the big guns when clients need services they don’t specialize in. Yep. When you need a website or SEO, you might end up in a meeting with me.
They have longtime clients that won’t switch it up until they retire, and that’s saying something.
Highly recommend, but they are doing this old school.
Referrals.
You won’t find their website.
And Then There’s Us...
Strong Minded Agency (Active - and the Best)
Guys, we can’t leave us off of a list. In 2020, I couldn’t add our company to the list since we were still just a web design company, but now, we do it all.
There are some similarities with some of the companies mentioned above. We have an in-house team for the majority of our projects, but also grab specialists when we need to. We’ve managed to partner with former Em-Media, Wheelhouse, and Beyond Marketing clients. We also tend to have specialties that we do extremely well.
Right now, we’ve likely developed more websites in the Ohio Valley than any of our competitors. From 7-page brochure websites to 150-page mega sites, we’ve done it all and at an affordable price. Not to mention the monthly clients we handle social and search engine optimization for.
We might not buy the most advertising. Although we have our fair share of billboard and traditional marketing clients, other agencies probably spend more per client. We’ve focused more on new media like OTT, digital video, podcasting, and short-form videos. It’s a bit more difficult, but certainly more rewarding when you hammer out an amazing campaign.
We’ve continued to grow in size and ability since July 2020, and that won’t stop after we hit publish on this blog.
So, Who Should You Hire?
The advertising agency landscape in Wheeling and Steubenville looks a lot different than it did when I first wrote about it in 2020.
Some agencies disappeared. Some got smaller. Others reinvented themselves. And a few new options have stepped in to fill the gaps.
That’s probably a good thing.
Businesses around the Ohio Valley shouldn’t have to choose an agency simply because it’s the only option in town. You should be able to look at several companies, understand what they actually do well, and find the one that makes the most sense for your business.
Some companies need a traditional media buyer. Others need video production. Some need someone managing social media every day. And increasingly, businesses need an agency that understands how websites, SEO, content, analytics, digital advertising, video, and everything else work together.
But one thing is for sure, the agency landscape will undoubtedly look different the next time I update this list.
We plan on still being here.
