Advertising man Rob Bell knows what it’s like to be a creative middle-schooler. Growing up in Searcy, he and Isaac Alexander produced their first TV spot as a seventh-grade project. It was a VHS film for a reading class unit on propaganda, and it celebrated their new invention, an inflatable, portable toilet called the Quickie.
That was the beginning of a beautiful partnership.
Now they are the Rob and Isaac of Eric Rob & Isaac, the advertising and branding shop above the Flying Fish restaurant in downtown Little Rock. A few weeks ago, they were overseeing the agency’s Brand Camp, a four-day summer course in product branding for fifth- to seventh-graders. The kids dreamed up new flavors of Yarnell’s ice cream, designing the cartons, photographing the prototypes and making a radio commercial about them. They even pitched the flavors (Banana Pudding Delight, Country Road and Neapolitan Jolly Rancher) to real Yarnell’s representatives.
It was like a trip back in time for Bell, who never truly grew up. The ERI shop has a laid-back atmosphere — he commandeered a colleague’s office as a quiet spot for an interview — and music is a constant topic of conversation.
Bell, actually a responsible father of two these days, fell into the advertising game when rock stardom never arrived. He came up with the punny, funny name of Brand Camp, saying it felt natural for ERI to offer children an esoteric summer project. Branding is at the core of what they do, he said.
“We wanted middle-schoolers,” Bell said. “They’re at the point where they’re first seriously looking at the possibilities of adulthood. And I was looking at this camp selfishly, looking for the future of our agency. I wanted to plant the seed of advertising as a career option.”
Isaac, who conceived the Brand Camp idea, was a student at hometown Harding University while Rob went to Rhodes College in Memphis, majoring in English. Then 12 years ago, after Rob broke into advertising along with Eric Lancaster at Mangan Holcomb Partners, he was reunited with Isaac at their own firm. In that first year, they served a single client from Searcy, First Security Bank.
Today they have an office gang of 16, and about 40 clients, including Sam’s Club, Riverfest, the University of Central Arkansas and Mountain Valley Spring Water. And of course, the Brand Campers’ favorite, Yarnell’s.
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