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Clockwise from top left: Management Supervisor Fran McManus, graphic artist Diana Revelo and copywriters Rachel Wilson and Gary Alipio of Peter A. Mayer Advertising Agency give themselves kudos
in the form of a Prestigious Paper Plate Award.
Photo by Frank Aymami
T H R E E - T I M E H O N O R E E
Peter A. Mayer
Advertising Inc.
At a time when companies are slashing their
401(k) contributions, employees at Peter A.
Mayer Advertising Inc. are sitting pretty.
The company matches dollar for dollar every
contribution an employee puts toward his or
her 401(k).
It’s a benefit President Mark Mayer believes
makes the agency stand out, noting it has only
fallen short of the goal twice in the past 20
years. The company still managed to provide a
full match this year, despite the recession.
The 42-year-old advertising agency was
founded by Peter Mayer and run by his sons,
Mark and Josh. But the company likes to
treat all 140 of its employees like family, Mark
Mayer said, even allowing employees to
bring their families to work, whether it’s their
children or pets.
“I put my family above business and I
wouldn’t expect anybody else to act any other
way,” he said.
“I feel like the company really runs like a
family business,” said Butler Burdine, director
of business development. “I mean it is a family
Nature of business: communications and marketing firm
Where based: New Orleans
Employees: 135
Average starting salary: $28,000
Median salary: $50,641
Average employment time: 12 years
Benefits: health care with 83 percent coverage, dental, vision
and prescription plans, unmarried partner benefits, 401(k) with
100 percent match, paid maternity and paternity leave, continuing
education, relocation assistance, telecommuting, employee
recognition program
Wait time for benefits: 31 days or less
Paid days off: 31
Web site: www.peteramayer.com
business, but it’s not just run that way if your
last name is Mayer.”
“It really is sort of like a family,” said Rick
Baxter, an interactive designer. “They really listen
to you.”
Peter Mayer’s office, which spans three
downtown buildings, is a cross between a typical
corporate space and an eclectic, swanky
hotel. One office has all the trappings of a typical
office, with phones, computers and a copy
machine, but also includes beanbag chairs for
lounging and a miniature trampoline.
Walls are adorned with murals and past
advertising work, and an indoor atrium towers
four stories high.
Peter Mayer has local and national clients,
including Zatarain’s, Entergy, the New Orleans
Saints and Whitney National Bank, which has
been a client for 40 years.
“That is unheard of in this industry,”
Burdine said. “The average tenure with a client
is two years nationally on average, so the fact
they’ve been with us that long is amazing.”
Fun is one of Peter Mayer’s six guiding principles.
Josh Mayer, executive creative director
and owner, said institutionalized fun is a great
way to promote teamwork, which is essential
in the advertising world.
“An old motto in advertising is the agency
that drinks together like each other,” he said.
Josh Mayer said one employee commented
on a survey saying one of the best things about
working for Peter Mayer was a party every six
to eight weeks. Some of those parties include
Halloween, Christmas, a spring crawfish boil
and a summer baseball game.
Peter Mayer promotes religiously from within
and gives its employees many opportunities
to shine by coming up with their own ideas
and going with it — a policy Josh Mayer said
is rare in corporations.
“There is an open-door policy,” said Josh. “A
lot of our offices literally have no doors.”•
— John Adams
32 2009 Best Places to Work