Our Roots

Starting an advertising agency in the 1980s saturated advertising market meant taking a giant leap of faith, calculated risk and a good dose of going against the grain. We embraced them all.

The Communications Group opened its doors in 1987, on Friday the 13th, on the 13th floor of our building, overlooking the scenic Arkansas River in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. We had four partners, two employees, 90 days of working capital and no clients. So much for calculated risk.

But, we made it. Three decades of marketing have given way to an agency culture of strength, adaptation and agility. We know how swift and brutal business can be. But, big deal. We don’t have a single client that hasn’t faced many of the same challenges at some point. We know firsthand that business is a tough game.

Our culture is built on a simple philosophy: good marketing is dependent on good communication. So from the beginning, no one’s name was on the agency’s door. That’s what other agencies did. Our corporate name, The Communications Group, has been the foundation for our culture from day one.

People Power

In a data-driven industry, people still make the difference. Two of the original founding partners, Dan Cowling and Dane Cowling, continue to lead the way, along with five generations filling the halls with ideas, laughter, teamwork and experience.

We call ourselves ComGroup for short and refer to our team members as Groupers. Groupers tend to stick around. We have employees with tenure in the double digits. We’ve found that clients like staff stability and the ability to count on relationships with the same people.

Customer relationships are important to us. We like our clients. If customer longevity means anything, they like us too. We’ve built long-term customer relationships in an industry that is famous for short-term ones. One customer has been with us since 1987.

Powering Insight

Marketing is a data-driven discipline. Technology rules. We mine data for powerful insights that give our clients an advantage. We’ve also learned not to overreact by throwing out what works in favor of putting all of our eggs into the “newest thing” basket. A little discipline, combined with strategy, always pays off.

Today we focus on creating value for our local, regional and global customers. We do that by the numbers. Data and research drive the development and implementation of integrated marketing and public relations plans, of which we view advertising as one tool.

Our brand promise to our customers is that we deliver data-driven integrated marketing communications using multichannel implementation and responsive monitoring. We call that brand delivery Powering Insight. To learn more about the people who make us who we are, visit OUR TEAM section.

Core Values

• Creativity – Creativity is the engine that drives our communications solutions. We embrace it in terms of our products, our processes and thinking.
• Integrity - Integrity guides all that we do.  We deliver on our promises and always do what is right to foster trust.
• Employees - We encourage a family-first approach to business.  We operate as a team through open and honest communication, mutual respect, common goals and unselfish support.  We embrace personal development and accept accountability for our actions.
• Customer Focus - We exceed expectations by listening to our customers’ needs, putting the customer first, and working to create innovative solutions.
• Industry Expertise - The depth of our industry expertise and our associates sets us apart.  We make certain that our team and all of our associates have the training, education, and experience to be the very best in their field.
• Innovation - We use innovation and creativity to solve customer challenges and think outside the box to seek improvement in all that we do.
• Change - We welcome change for the opportunity that it brings.  We adapt, maintain a proactive attitude and react to make changes that enhance our overall performance and service.