Crain’s New York Business magazine is a multiple award-winning publication that covers everything happening in the New York business community. Every year they publish the Fast 50 list of New York’s fastest-growing businesses. Factory 360 has been honored to make that list the past two years. And now, we’re honored that the magazine has written a flattering profile of Factory 360 founder Michael Fernandez.

The article points out that Fernandez started his own experiential marketing agency in 2007, only a year before the Great Recession. The fledgling firm could have easily failed as businesses slashed their marketing budgets.

Instead, Fernandez grew Factory 360 into a nationally-respected agency with well-known clients such as ESPN, PayPal, Metro PCS, Moët & Chandon and Logic. The company boasts about 20,000 part-time and seasonal brand ambassadors, as well as a permanent staff of close to 50.

Fernandez told Crain’s New York Business that he believes launching the agency when he did allowed him to take advantage of a market niche few others were exploiting. In 2007, experiential marketing was just beginning to become the powerful force it is today. Fernandez was one of few people making a case for how it could help brands stand out by creating meaningful interactions with consumers.

In 2007, social media was also not as important to marketers as it is now. Fernandez’s idea that it could be vital to all marketing strategies – but especially experiential marketing – made sense to his forward-thinking clients. Factory 360’s advanced understanding of social media helped make a case for why high-profile clients should choose it over other agencies. Factory Snap, our proprietary social media technology, helped propel Factory 360 to a high level of success by making it easier to connect brands with consumers at events.

“We feel very bullish on the future because we are able to compete alongside bigger companies,” Fernandez told Crain’s New York Business. It also helps that, as Crain’s points out, companies are now beating on Factory 360’s door rather than the other way around. This article will certainly help make the case why Factory 360 is the experiential marketing agency of choice for companies looking to reach more consumers in an engaging and interesting way.