Four Decades of Award-Winning Creative.
Zero Compromises on Results.

When your marketing needs to work harder, think smarter, and deliver measurable impact—you need an agency that's been doing exactly that since 1982.

Welcome to Jacobs & Clevenger.

For over 40 years, we've been the agency that major brands turn to when the stakes are high and the challenge is complex. We're the team behind campaigns that don't just win awards—they win customers, drive growth, and transform marketing investments into tangible business outcomes.

If you're looking for an agency that understands the delicate balance between creative brilliance and data-driven performance, you're in the right place.

Get in touch with our team

The J&C Difference:
Where Creative Excellence Meets Measurable Results

There's a reason we've been at the top of our game for more than four decades. It's not just about longevity—it's about evolution, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to delivering work that moves the needle.

Here's what sets us apart:

We don't do cookie-cutter campaigns. We create award-winning work that's as distinctive as your brand, backed by data insights that ensure every creative decision drives performance. When 8 out of 10 clients see better results with our proven approach, it's not luck—it's the result of relentless testing, strategic thinking, and creative firepower refined over thousands of campaigns.

Our creative team doesn't just make things look good. They make things work. Every headline, every visual, every call-to-action is crafted with precision and purpose. We've won industry recognition not because we chase trends, but because we set them. Our work has earned accolades from the industry's most prestigious awards programs, but more importantly, it's earned the trust of some of the most demanding clients in financial services, insurance, energy, and beyond.

This is direct marketing elevated to an art form—where strategy informs creativity, data refines execution, and results validate everything we do.

Our Legacy: Built on Ideas, Powered by People

Since 1982, Jacobs & Clevenger has been synonymous with creative excellence in direct marketing. We've built our reputation on three pillars:

Award-Winning Creative that breaks through the noise and connects with audiences in meaningful ways. Our creative team has been recognized with industry honors because they don't settle for ordinary. They push boundaries, challenge conventions, and deliver work that makes people stop, think, and act.

Strategic Insight that goes deeper than demographics and surface-level data. We uncover the unexpected insights that transform campaigns from good to exceptional. Our strategists don't just analyze numbers—they find the human truths hiding in the data and turn them into compelling creative that resonates.

Exceptional People who are as invested in your success as you are. When our clients say we're "an extension of their team," they mean it. Our account leaders, strategists, creatives, and production specialists all share one common measure of success: impact on your bottom line.

Over four decades, we've assembled a team that represents some of the brightest minds in marketing. These aren't just talented individuals—they're seasoned professionals who've honed their craft across thousands of campaigns, learned from every test, and constantly refined their approach to stay ahead of the curve.

How We Work: The J&C Methodology

Our process has been refined over 40 years and thousands of campaigns. It's built on a foundation of strategic rigor, creative excellence, and continuous optimization.

Strategic Foundation

Every great campaign starts with deep strategic thinking. We don't jump to creative solutions—we invest the time to understand your business objectives, your audience's motivations, and the competitive landscape. Our strategists dive below the surface to uncover insights that others miss, identifying opportunities that become the springboard for breakthrough creative.

We begin every engagement with comprehensive discovery. What are your business goals? Who are you trying to reach? What motivates them to act? What barriers stand in the way? What have you tried before, and what were the results? These questions guide our exploration and ensure we're building strategy on solid ground, not assumptions.

We examine your customer data with forensic attention, looking for patterns and insights that reveal opportunities. We analyze competitive activity to identify white space and differentiation opportunities. We conduct market research when needed to fill knowledge gaps. And we synthesize all of this information into strategic insights that become the foundation for creative development.

Our strategic framework addresses every critical element: audience segmentation and targeting, positioning and messaging, channel strategy and media mix, offer development and testing plans, measurement frameworks and success metrics. This isn't strategy for strategy's sake—it's the essential foundation that ensures our creative work delivers business results.

The time we invest upfront pays dividends throughout the campaign lifecycle, ensuring that every creative execution is grounded in strategic clarity and every tactical decision advances your business objectives.

Creative Development

This is where our award-winning team shines. Armed with strategic insights, our creative professionals develop concepts that are both distinctive and effective. We don't believe in false choices between creativity and performance. The best work delivers both.

Our creative process begins with ideation—collaborative sessions where strategists and creatives come together to explore possibilities, challenge assumptions, and develop concepts that bring strategy to life. We're not satisfied with the first good idea. We push further, exploring multiple directions before identifying the concepts with the greatest potential.

Once we've identified promising directions, our creative team brings them to life with meticulous craft and attention to detail. Our copywriters understand that words matter—every headline must grab attention and communicate value, every body copy paragraph must advance the narrative and build desire, every call-to-action must inspire immediate response. They write with precision, clarity, and persuasive power.

Our designers understand that visual communication is just as important as verbal. They create layouts that guide the eye, use imagery that evokes emotion and communicates benefits, employ typography that enhances readability, and leverage color and contrast to highlight what matters most. Every design decision serves the strategic objective.

Our creatives understand that different channels require different approaches. A direct mail package needs to create impact the moment it's opened. An email subject line has seconds to avoid the delete button. A social media ad must stop the scroll. A landing page needs to convert interest into action. We tailor our creative approach to the specific requirements and opportunities of each medium while maintaining consistent brand expression.

We develop creative across every channel—from direct mail packages that demand to be opened to email campaigns that cut through inbox clutter, from landing pages optimized for conversion to social creative that sparks engagement. And we do it all while maintaining your brand's core DNA across every touchpoint.

The result is creative work that doesn't just look good in award show annuals—it performs in the real world, delivering the measurable results that matter to your business.

Data-Driven Optimization

Here's where decades of experience become your competitive advantage. We've run enough campaigns to know that the first version is never the final answer. We build systematic testing into every program, continuously learning what works and applying those insights to drive better performance.

Our approach combines AI-enhanced targeting with old-school direct marketing discipline. We segment audiences with surgical precision. We test creative variables methodically. We analyze results rigorously. And we apply our learnings relentlessly to improve performance with every campaign iteration.

This is marketing math and magic working in perfect harmony.

Measurable Results

At the end of the day, we're judged by the same metric you are: results. Every campaign is built around clear, measurable objectives. We track everything, analyze ruthlessly, and report transparently. You'll always know exactly what's working, what isn't, and what we're doing to optimize performance.

Our clients don't just get campaign reports—they get actionable insights that inform future marketing decisions across their entire business.

Industries We Serve: Solving the Toughest Marketing Challenges

Some agencies shy away from complexity. We run toward it. For over 40 years, we've specialized in industries where marketing is particularly challenging—highly regulated, technically complex, with sophisticated audiences and long sales cycles.

Financial Services

We work with more than 3,600 financial institutions across the country, from community banks to national insurance companies. The financial services sector demands precision, compliance expertise, and the ability to make complex products understandable and compelling. We've mastered all three.

Our work in financial services spans customer acquisition, product adoption, cross-sell campaigns, member engagement, and retention programs. We know how to navigate regulatory constraints while creating campaigns that cut through and connect with audiences. Whether you're launching a new service, driving adoption of digital tools, or strengthening customer relationships, we bring proven expertise and award-winning creative to every challenge.

Insurance

Insurance marketing requires a unique combination of skills. You need to simplify complex products, build trust, navigate heavy regulation, and reach diverse audiences with very different needs. We've been doing this for decades, working with some of the largest names in the industry to create efficient, effective marketing communications.

From Medicare supplements to commercial insurance, from acquisition campaigns to policyholder engagement, we know how to make insurance marketing both interesting and competitive. Our creative doesn't just explain coverage—it connects emotionally while delivering the facts that drive informed decisions.

Energy & Utilities

For over 20 years, we've helped energy companies and utilities overcome their toughest marketing challenges. Whether you're promoting energy efficiency programs, managing customer communications during rate changes, or driving adoption of new services, we bring deep industry expertise and proven creative approaches.

We understand the unique dynamics of the energy sector—the need to educate while you sell, the importance of community trust, the complexity of regulatory environments. Our campaigns help energy companies shine brighter than their competitors while delivering measurable business results.

And Beyond

We also serve retail, non-profit, B2B, and association clients. Wherever there's a complex marketing challenge that demands strategic thinking and creative excellence, that's where J&C excels.

Why Our Clients Choose J&C (And Stay With Us)

Don't just take our word for it. Here's what our clients say about working with Jacobs & Clevenger:

"All members of the J&C team, from the account people to creative to production, judge their performance the way we do—by its impact on our bottom line. Jacobs & Clevenger is the best agency we've ever worked with. Period."
– Terry Mierzwa, Director of Marketing, Consumers Energy

"J&C is an extension of our team and understands the needs of our clients and the goals of our company. Together we have worked to build an adoption marketing program from the ground up that supports the needs of over 3,000 financial institutions, helping them grow adoption, increase payments, and strengthen customer retention. The collaboration with J&C has produced a marketing program that helps drive double-digit growth year after year."
– Catherine Elstner, Marketing Director, Jack Henry & Associates

"Jacobs & Clevenger is more than just an agency. They're an extension of our marketing department."
– Linda Alperin, Vice President Marketing, AT&T Broadband

These aren't just nice words—they reflect the way we work. We become partners in your success, invested in your outcomes, committed to delivering results that matter to your business.

The People Behind the Performance

Awards don't create themselves. Results don't happen by accident. Everything we've accomplished over the past four decades comes down to the exceptional people who make up the Jacobs & Clevenger team.

Leadership That Understands Direct Marketing

Our agency was founded by Ron Jacobs and Penny Clevenger—two pioneers who understood that direct marketing was more than just sending mail. It was about creating measurable, accountable connections between brands and customers. That founding vision still guides everything we do today.

Ron Jacobs is a recognized leader in applying database and direct response strategies to branded products. He's co-author of the Eighth Edition of "Successful Direct Marketing Methods"—the definitive text that's sold over 250,000 copies and educated generations of marketers. He's spoken at seminars and events around the world, sharing insights about integrated marketing campaigns and the evolving role of technology in customer communication.

This depth of expertise at the leadership level cascades through the entire organization, creating a culture where excellence is the standard and continuous learning is expected.

Strategists Who Think Deeper

Our strategy team brings diverse backgrounds and deep experience to every engagement. These are professionals who've spent years studying consumer behavior, analyzing data, and developing insights that drive breakthrough creative. They don't just process information—they synthesize it, finding patterns and opportunities that others overlook.

They're as comfortable diving into complex datasets as they are facilitating client workshops. They can speak the language of C-suite executives and translate business objectives into marketing strategies that creative teams can execute. And they measure their success not by the elegance of their strategic decks, but by the business results their strategies deliver.

Creatives Who Understand Results

Our creative team isn't your typical agency creatives. Yes, they're immensely talented—capable of producing work that wins awards and makes people take notice. But they also understand that pretty pictures and clever copy aren't enough. Everything they create must serve the strategic objective and drive measurable response.

They've learned through thousands of campaigns what works and what doesn't. They understand that effective direct marketing creative must capture attention, communicate value, build desire, and inspire action—often in seconds. They know that every word, every image, every design element must earn its place by contributing to the desired outcome.

This combination of creative talent and marketing discipline is rare in the industry. It's what enables us to consistently deliver work that's both award-winning and results-driven.

Account Teams Who Are True Partners

Our account leaders don't just manage projects—they drive strategy, challenge thinking, and serve as true partners to our clients. They're the connective tissue that holds everything together, ensuring that client objectives guide every decision and that our work delivers on its promise.

They're senior marketing professionals in their own right, with the experience and confidence to push back when necessary and the wisdom to know when to listen. They manage complex programs with multiple moving parts, keeping everything on track while maintaining the flexibility to adapt as circumstances change.

When clients say we're "an extension of their team," they're talking about the relationships our account leaders build and the partnership mindset they bring to every engagement.

Production Specialists Who Ensure Flawless Execution

Behind every successful campaign is a production team that ensures flawless execution. These are the professionals who manage the technical details that can make or break a program—file preparation, quality control, vendor management, timeline coordination, and countless other critical tasks that most people never see.

They're perfectionists who understand that excellence in execution is just as important as excellence in strategy and creative. A brilliant campaign concept becomes worthless if the execution is flawed. Our production team ensures that never happens.

Together, this team of strategists, creatives, account leaders, and production specialists forms an integrated whole that's greater than the sum of its parts. They share a common commitment to client success and a collective pride in delivering work that drives real business results.

Our Approach to Modern Marketing

Over 40 years, we've watched marketing evolve from print and broadcast to digital, social, and everything in between. We've not just kept pace—we've led the way, continuously innovating while staying true to the fundamental principles of direct marketing that have always driven results.

Hyper-Personalization at Scale

Today's consumers expect relevant, personalized experiences. Generic mass marketing doesn't cut it anymore. That's why we leverage AI-enhanced research and targeting to deliver hyper-personalized messages that speak directly to individual needs, preferences, and behaviors.

We use advanced data analytics to segment audiences with precision, then create tailored creative that resonates with each segment. Whether it's demographic-based, psychographic-based, location-based, time-based, or behaviorally-based targeting, we deliver messages that feel personally relevant because they are.

This approach doesn't just improve response rates—it creates better customer experiences and builds stronger brand relationships.

Integrated Multi-Channel Campaigns

Your customers don't live in a single channel, and neither should your marketing. We create integrated campaigns that maintain your brand's core DNA while adapting seamlessly across direct mail, email, social media, display advertising, and more.

Each channel plays a specific role in the customer journey. Direct mail creates impact and credibility. Email enables timely, cost-effective communication. Social extends reach and enables engagement. Landing pages convert interest into action. And it all works together in a harmonized strategy that compounds results.

Our integrated approach ensures consistent messaging, optimal timing, and maximum impact across every customer touchpoint.

Continuous Testing & Learning

In an era of vanity metrics and gut-feel decision making, J&C stands apart. Every campaign is a calculated strategy, not a gamble. We build systematic testing into our programs, continuously learning and optimizing to drive better performance.

We test creative variables, offers, audience segments, timing, channels, and more. We analyze results with statistical rigor. And we apply our learnings to make every campaign smarter than the last.

This test-and-learn culture has been part of our DNA for four decades. It's how we've stayed at the top of our game and how we consistently deliver better results for our clients.

The Independence Advantage

As an independently owned agency, we answer to no one but our clients and ourselves. We're free from corporate constraints, legacy systems, and the red tape that slows down larger agency networks.

This independence means we can be agile when opportunities arise. We can be bold in our creative recommendations. We can innovate without waiting for approval from some distant holding company.

Our recommendations are based on what's right for your business—not what serves some parent company's bottom line or fits some predetermined template.

This freedom allows us to do our best work. And it ensures that your success is our only measure of success.

Award-Winning Work That Works

We've earned recognition from the industry's most prestigious awards programs—not because we enter everything we create, but because our work stands out. Our creative has been honored with awards from the Direct Marketing Association, the American Marketing Association, industry-specific competitions, and more.

But here's what matters more than any trophy: our work delivers results. Every award we've won represents a campaign that exceeded client objectives, drove measurable business outcomes, and proved that creative excellence and marketing performance aren't opposing forces—they're complementary strengths.

When you work with J&C, you get creative that's been recognized by industry peers and proven in the marketplace. You get ideas that break through and strategies that drive business forward.

Ready to Experience the J&C Difference?

For over 40 years, we've been helping smart brands solve their toughest marketing challenges with award-winning creative and data-driven strategy. We've assembled one of the most talented teams in the industry, refined our approach through thousands of campaigns, and built a track record of delivering measurable results.

If you're looking for an agency that combines creative excellence with strategic rigor and marketing accountability, let's talk.

If you want a partner that will invest in understanding your business, challenge conventional thinking, and deliver campaigns that drive real growth, we should connect.

If you need an agency with four decades of proven experience and a team of exceptional people who treat your success as their own, you've found the right place.

Contact Jacobs & Clevenger today and discover why some of the most successful brands in financial services, insurance, energy, and beyond trust us with their most important marketing challenges.

We're ready to put our award-winning creative and proven methodology to work for you.