Active Media USA
Active Media, Incorporated began as a graphic and web design firm in 2000. The original owners were Matthew Nelson, who maintains his position as the President of the corporation, and Jules Helm. At that time, the company’s main business was design services for clients like C.N.F., Emery Worldwide and Conway Trucking Systems. By 2001, in conjunction with the growth of the dot-com industry, Active Media expanded its services to include various specialized print products.
In July of 2003, Active Media decided to participate in a fundraiser for the Tigard and Tualatin High School bands. In August 2003, Active Media partnered with the Tigard Chamber of Commerce to produce a fundraising coupon book called the Tigard Advantage Guide. This small, newsprint booklet was comprised of Chamber members, who liked the opportunity to advertise their business to the local community. There were 20,000 copies printed, and they were manually handed out in the Tigard area.
There was never an intention of a second publication, however, the participants insisted, as they were seeing a great response from the community. A few modifications were made and the second issue was released in January of 2004. The new and improved version of the Tigard Advantage Guide was full size and full color. Ten thousand copies were manufactured and mailed directly to Tigard residents. This publication was a great success and paved the way for The Advantage Guide to add multiple cities in the Southwest Portland Metro area.
The unprecedented success of the second release enabled Active Media to switch from newsprint to glossy paper, and add three cities to the distribution. This magazine was no longer limited to Tigard Chamber of Commerce members and featured a variety of local, small to medium-sized businesses. On April 15, 2004, The Advantage Guide, which greatly resembled its current incarnation, was mailed to Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood and Lake Oswego.
The April 2004 release was well received, and catapulted Active Media into becoming a majority advertising company, as opposed to the print and design services it was based on. The Advantage Guide would later offer additional release dates throughout the year and add many more distribution cities in the Portland Metro.
Active Media has been continuing to expand and incorporate various other advertising products to its specialty. In 2005, Active Media united with the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce to create their local roadmap. The map is distributed at the Chamber of Commerce to visitors and new residents, as well as mailed with the Sherwood Advantage Guide once a year.
The rapid growth of the company required a larger space and the company moved into its current offices in Wilsonville, Oregon. With the larger production demand, several artists were added to the design team. Additional salespeople were recruited to the staff to continue to build the company’s client base.
The company saw many changes in 2007. In April last year, The Lake Oswego Dining Guide was born. The Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce joined Active Media to create a unique magazine, containing only Lake Oswego Chamber restaurants. The Dining Guide was devised as an immaculate menu directory that encompasses the elegance of the fine dining of Lake Oswego.
Shortly thereafter, in June of 2007, Active Media purchased a competing publication known as Your Neighborhood Magazine. The addition of this product increased the distribution by 225,000 magazines, mailed on a quarterly basis. Your Neighborhood allows our clients to have more options for advertising to different types of consumers as well as different target markets to choose from.
Along with Your Neighborhood, another new member joined the Active Media family. He is a bright and fun frog named Zuno, who was designed to be the company mascot to help brand Active Media in the Portland Metro. His smiling image is on the majority of Active Media publications. His first appearance was on the August release of The Advantage Guide and Your Neighborhood magazines. Zuno will also serve as a way to easily remember our website GoZuno.com, which is the best way for the consumers in the area to gain instant access to our advertiser’s offers via the web, regardless of location.
Active Media is a fast-paced, ever expanding company that will continue to provide quality products that help drive business for our clients, while consumers can save money by redeeming coupons. Active Media believes that if we take care of our clients, they will take care of us. So far, that belief has held true and there’s no indication that it will ever change.