But unlike many of those firms, Real Art also employs electrical engineers and materials fabricators to create “experiential” social media campaigns that involve connected machines. The company’s campaigns have included the “Santa Claw,” a massive arcade claw game controlled by online users, and the 7-Eleven “Dip-a-Drip,” which allowed online users to dunk an “obnoxious person” into a giant cup of coffee.
When the Dayton Daily News recently visited Real Art’s offices at 520 E. First St. in Dayton, workers were building “Mobile Grilling Unit 1,” a Frankenstein-like combination of a working Kenmore grill and bicycle. Television host Ty Pennington was scheduled to ride the mobile grill this weekend at Ribfest near Chicago as part of Sears’ “Grilling is Happiness” campaign.
“We believe in creating wonder,” said Chris Wire, Real Art’s president and creative director. “That is a moment between a brand and a consumer that stops them in their tracks, and they ask themselves: ‘How did they do this? Why did they do this?’ or ‘That’s amazing.’ ”
Such campaigns allow clients to grab peoples’ attention to start a conversation between the company and consumers.
“Once we’ve got them, then we can weave that brand’s story in and around it,” Wire said.
Real Art was founded in Dayton in 1985 as a print design firm. The company transitioned into digital development and web design with the advent of the Internet, and in recent years has become a recognized leader in combining machines, specialized software and the web to create rich interactive experiences.
In March, Real Art Social Marketing Director Patrice Hall was featured on a panel, “It’s Alive: Interactive Machines That Captivate,” at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas.
“This kind of approach has really been at our core since we started, where even when we were doing primarily print pieces they were always strange and unique,” Wire said. “Over time the technological aspect has been more and more baked into it.”
Wire, 41, started working at Real Art as an intern in 1990 while attending the University of Dayton. He aspired to own a small business, like his family’s hardware store in his native Ada, Ohio. By the late 1990s, Wire had completed the purchase the design firm from its founder.
Real Art has about 50 employees at its offices in Dayton, Chicago and New York City. The bulk of the staff, who are mostly in their 20s and 30s, work at the firm’s downtown Dayton headquarters.
“I can’t imagine us doing what we’re doing anyplace else,” Wire said. The Dayton region provides a lower cost of doing business, good access to young talent, and an innovative creative spirit “that is really held up as a badge of honor here in Dayton that makes our projects work,” he said.
Wire declined to disclose the privately held firm’s annual revenues.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2419 or dlarsen@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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