Stephen Fraser, founder of Bug-Eyed Marketing, is bored by most marketing. That's why he devotes his time to helping companies do interesting things and, in the process, to become interesting to their customers.
He describes this approach as Bug-Eyed Marketing but it might just as well be called anti-marketing marketing. It relies on a small budget, a high degree of creativity, and a willingness to be unconventional. It also requires a company to master the art of looking at itself through the eyes of potential customers who have never heard its name.
Stephen developed his approach as the marketing and communications director of a self-publishing start-up called Lulu.com founded by former Red Hat chairman Bob Young. From a tiny band of engineers who had created a web site in 2002 with no visitors, over four years Stephen helped make Lulu into a well-known Internet brand with millions of unique visitors a month and $25 million in annual revenue.
Along the way, he helped publicize a list of the world's “worst beach reads,” Socceranto—the universal language of soccer, and the Lulu Blooker Prize, the world's first literary prize for blooks (books based on blogs). Stephen also published Tenebris, a blog about independent publishing, helped make famous the image of Sam, the world's ugliest dog (RIP), and managed a search marketing budget of $350,000.
At the end of 2006 Stephen left Lulu to help other small start-up companies get to know their customers better and, in the process, to help them become better known. He is the president of Bug-Eyed Marketing, an online marketing consultancy in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Stephen spends his spare time running marathons and ultramarathons, blogging and keeping a growing band of young daughters entertained. He appreciates Scotch, the New Yorker, and a healthy sense of irony.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is at the center of one of the most creative small communities in the U.S., home to underground rock legends, acclaimed writers, independent record companies, and academic publishers. It is adjacent to Research Triangle Park, one of the hotbeds of technology on the East Coast and home to Red Hat Software, Lulu.com, SAS, Motricity, Bronto Software, and many other innovative companies. The intersection of great creativity and innovative technology makes this the perfect location for a revolutionary marketing agency.