Be a Bigger Magnet

About three years ago, Capsule—a Minneapolis-based brand development and design firm—received a request for proposal (RFP) to redesign Princeton University’s brand identity. It was a prestigious job that would have raised the tiny 10-person agency’s reputation nationwide. Aaron Keller, founder of Capsule, was tempted. But after reviewing the request, he declined to submit a proposal.

“The way they’d written the RFP, I knew they needed all kinds of experience in higher ed,” Keller says. “I just didn’t think we had the capacity to do the job right, so even though it was a great opportunity, I sent it back. But today, if we got that same request, I would definitely respond to it.”

What’s changed?

Capsule is now a member of Magnet 360, a Minneapolis-based network of marketing, branding, design, and technology companies operated by digital marketing entrepreneurs Dan Mallin and Scott Litman. As a result, Keller’s small agency is partnered with 19 others from the Twin Cities area. And rather than relying upon the skills and background of his own handful of employees, he now has direct access to more than 450 industry professionals, including strategists, writers, graphic artists, and software designers.

In other words, Capsule could take on a job as large as the rebranding of Princeton University because it would be acting on behalf of Magnet 360. As the broker of such a deal—in essence, the general contractor—Capsule would receive a mark-up on the sale of all services. But as subcontractors, other members of the network would profit, too, sharing in business they otherwise never would have had, and collecting fees for the design work or other expertise they provide.

It’s an approach that represents the future of marketing, says Skip Gage, chairman and a principal investor in Magnet 360. Gage is also founder and CEO of Gage Marketing Group, which is a member of Magnet 360 and shares a Plymouth office building with the start-up.

“Magnet is completely different from the old agency model, where everything was built in house,” Gage says. “That model bred competition and inefficiency, and in a digital age we can’t afford to be so fragmented anymore. Dan and Scott understand that. And because of their unique combination of marketing and technology skills, I think these guys will be at the forefront of our industry.”

Blind Date

Dan Mallin and Scott Litman led oddly parallel lives until they met in the early 1990s.

They are 43 and 42, respectively. Mallin grew up in Milwaukee and went to Drake University in Iowa; Litman was raised in St. Louis Park and attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. While in college, they held identical positions, as campus representatives for Microsoft.