Adam Taylor is founder and CEO of Splendor, a full-service creative agency based in Red Bank. — Photos by Aaron Houston for Real Estate NJ
By Joshua Burd
It was 2011 when Adam Taylor moved Splendor Design Group to downtown Red Bank, prompting what felt like an overnight change in how prospective clients approached his then-12-year-old graphic design firm. “Suddenly, people were much more interested,” he recalled, seemingly thanks to the new address in an established business community.
That was one draw for Denholtz Properties President Steve Cassidy, based in Matawan at the time, who found Splendor online in 2014 while searching for a vendor to redo the firm’s website.
“He chose to work with us because we were accessible,” Taylor said. “We could meet face to face … and when we got together, there was a pretty good rapport and synergy.”
What’s more, he added, “It really started to open my eyes to how much work is actually happening right in our own backyard in real estate.”
For Splendor, it was the first of many commercial real estate clients that have been a key source of its growth over the past decade, accounting for some 40 to 60 percent of its business in recent years. Now a full-service creative agency with a team of 15, the firm has worked for the likes of Russo Development, SJP Properties, Onyx Equities and J&L Cos., part of a niche that comprises both corporate branding and campaigns for individual buildings and projects, which Taylor sees as a vital growth area.
All the while, his decision to locate in Red Bank continues to pay dividends when it comes to business development and attracting talent, prompting it to expand several times since its initial move to 50 Broad St.
“(Everybody) talks about being in a transit village, being in a place where there’s a walkable downtown — areas where people want to go to work,” said Taylor, founder and CEO of what’s now known simply as Splendor. “And that’s definitely the case here.”
Taylor’s journey as an entrepreneur began as many others do: “leaving a string of horrible jobs at print shops,” where he was a graphic artist who had “a vision or a notion that there’s something bigger and better … just waiting for me to figure out what it is,” he said. He notes that he had no formal training in business management or even design, but loved the creative arts enough to take the plunge in August 1999.
Initially based in Neptune and later in Point Pleasant Beach, the firm spent its early years working on everything from logo design and brochures to websites and search engine optimization for clients in professional services, technology and health care, as well as architecture, engineering and construction. That’s not to mention posters, flyers and CD sleeves for local rock bands. Taylor’s earliest semblance of a staff included two designers, but he began to add positions such as project managers and marketers in the interest of streamlining and scaling the business.
Splendor was “still primarily a design studio-oriented business” leading up to 2019, when Taylor joined forces with Jay Sharfstein and Chris Brignola of Filter Advertising. Calling them his “Don Draper duo” — a reference to the protagonist of the hit television series “Mad Men” — the pair brought the kind of New York ad agency experience that could elevate the firm, having worked with brands such as Sprite, Heineken and Mercedes-Benz.
“What they brought to the team was a much more holistic brand perspective,” Taylor said. “So instead of just great-looking design, it was design with a purpose (and), with Jay as a copywriter by trade, design with a real message and well-articulated, smart strategies. … So the branding component of it really expanded well beyond just a logo or an identity or stationery system.”
The firm in 2021 added Mark Cerame as head of strategy, Taylor said, describing him as “our ace detective, where he will uncover what it is that you do that’s so different and unique, and how can we position you in a more signature kind of way.”
Being in Red Bank has only helped to augment that growth, as has its entrance to the real estate sector. Taylor recalls working Cassidy, the Denholtz president, as well as CEO Steven Denholtz on multiple projects, noting he “learned a lot through that experience and building a relationship with them.” And its work with the developer, which is also now based in Red Bank, gave way to additional connections and referrals in the industry.
“I personally became more and more interested in the market and in that category, in that industry,” Taylor said, “because there was so much activity, and the size and the scale of the projects were pretty next-level compared to a lot of the small mom-and-pop work that we had done in our early years.”
Splendor’s notable work in real estate includes campaigns for Onyx Equities’ high-profile overhaul of Newark’s iconic, four-building Gateway complex. It has also worked for SJP Properties and on properties such as M Station in Morristown and 200 Wood Ave. in Woodbridge, having also completed branding and marketing work for key industry players such as Langan and Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP.
Most developers and landlords, he said, are now aware that they must go beyond their old-school tendencies and “need to be present digitally.”
“The importance of brand is something that’s kind of been an awakening for a lot of the folks in the business,” Taylor said. “So a lot of them spend time on their own corporate brand and presence.”
Equally if not more important to Splendor’s growth are the campaigns it creates for individual buildings and properties — increasingly with drone video and animation — often for repeat clients but also to supplement a brokerage team’s efforts on a specific assignment.
“The individual properties are kind of what keeps the wheels turning, because you wouldn’t do a rebrand every year,” Taylor said. “So for us, we love to work with companies that have big portfolios that are constantly moving and developing and breaking new ground, because there’s always this baked-in need and market, and that’s part of what appealed to me also about real estate in the beginning.”
Splendor’s own real estate journey has also been eye-opening. While its footprint in Red Bank is small — totaling around 2,000 square feet — the firm has twice expanded beyond its initial space of about 750 square feet. That has included the addition of a full conference room, a smaller meeting space, a kitchen pantry and another cluster of workstations to support its growing team and growing business, with the most recent expansion coming in 2022.
Renovating the second-floor space became a “passion project for me during the pandemic,” Taylor said, noting that it now has the feel of a New York City loft. And it went hand in hand with his belief that his team needed to be in the office after nearly three years of working remotely, noting that “the numbers didn’t lie” when it came to productivity and profitability.
He added that, “beyond the financials, it was just difficult for us as a creative agency.” Consider the simple example being able to “just look over a designer’s shoulder” and offer his input, he said, noting that “you can’t really think outside the box when you’re in isolation. You need inspiration, you need collaboration.”
In that regard, being in a place like Red Bank is even more critical to providing an office that employees will gravitate to.
“We’ve got the river a tenth of a mile down the road, and we’ve got unlimited services and restaurants and lunch spots,” Taylor said. “Red Bank’s a little challenging to get in and out of driving-wise, but once you’re here for the workday, there’s a lot that you can take advantage of.”
