Reid Carr, President, Red Door Interactive Inc.

By Gail Stoorza-Gill

So you think trendy online social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are great ways to make connections, keep up with the latest gossip and generally pass the time away?

Reid Carr sees them as opportunities for companies to build their income and bottom line. And, he can prove it with creative campaigns his team has developed for clients that include Leap Wireless, Sempra Energy, the restaurants Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, and others.

Red Door’s mission is to help established companies leverage their brand on-line, build additional revenue, add business and retain customers. “Every company is on their own path toward e-business,” Reid believes. “We are here to facilitate that process.”

TRQ:  What are the companies’ core values?
RC:  Our staff developed them together, and we live by them on a daily basis. Three of our eight values are:

To maintain a 100 percent jerk-free environment. You can find highly creative people, especially for a creative environment. But we can’t be successful if we let the “few” rule the ultimate work product. We’re a team. No one jerk is going to bully the process so that others don’t want to come to work.
To empower and encourage. We do lots of learning and everything is a “group think.” We freely give away our “secret sauce” because we want to be forthcoming with information to both our staff and our clients.
To exude passion and pride in what we do. Pride is in attention to detail. Passion makes it infectious.

TRQ:  Your educational environment and past work places include some of the icons of today’s advertising. How did they mold your work and attitudes?
RC:  I attended the University of Oregon, the best advertising school on the West Coast, which is often referred to as “Nike U.”  We were treated to speakers from some of the best brand builders in the business, as well as outstanding marketing and psychology classes. I augmented the typical program with classes in leadership.

I was very fortunate to work for Chiat/Day, historically one of the leaders in progressive advertising. They had a certain swagger and they were among the first to invest in a work environment that motivated their staff to do their best work.

They had their creative staff on display with three layers of creatives moving work around. I appreciate that, but it was not an atmosphere I wanted to build. At Red Door we put relationships first. I learned you can craft a culture, and you can create a pecking order. Every company has their values, whether they consciously started them or not. By virtue of their actions, you know what their values are.

TRQ:  What interested you about the Web that caused Red Door to focus on this particular advertising opportunity?
RC:  The great thing about the Web is that with enough research you can understand your core user and then expand that audience.  My experience has led me to know that we have to be fanatical about one thing and that is to focus on and not deviate from that core user.

TRQ:  Your offices on the 11th floor of DiamondView Tower make a statement about who Red Door is and what you do. Why did you choose this location and this interior presentation?
RC:  We always wanted an inspired environment, and this location offered a unique opportunity. We’re about being a “team.” These offices clearly present us as such. We also wanted to get our clients out of their environment and into ours in order to inspire them.  Our folks walk clients to lunch at nearby small restaurants and boutiques and they usually come away with a lot of ideas and cumulative inspirations. We have many events where guests can watch the Padres’ games from the balcony, where the crack of the bat can be heard and the crowds’ cheers are huge.

TRQ:  How do you describe your services?
RC:  We manage our clients’ internet presence by analyzing their unique challenges, advising them on internet-based solutions and implementing strategies to help them along their path toward e-business. We do technology integration, online and offline marketing, Web traffic analysis, search engine promotion, Website content updates and comprehensive Website design and development. I like all kinds of more traditional advertising, but we understand that to be truly excellent, we have to be focused.

TRQ:  What would your clients say are the top three reasons they chose and continue to use Red Door?
RC:  I believe they would say we are pro-active and let them know it, we are excellent communicators, we really know our stuff and we are very collaborative with each other internally. Clients get tremendous breadth from our specialists and we fight for our ideas.

TRQ:  What does the future hold for Red Door Interactive?
RC:  We’ve had three straight years of good financial growth and we believe our next year will be really strong. We’ve also been named one of the Best Places to Work for three years in a row.  We’re going to be here a long time!