Larry Stone and Millie Ward have operated the Little Rock advertising agency bearing their names for 33 years and have been married for 17 years.
Now another milestone beckons -- immortality.
The veteran Little Rock advertising duo are among 11 people who will be enshrined as part of the 2017 class of the Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame.
A dinner and induction ceremony is scheduled to be held Friday at the Hilton Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas, for the honorees who, a statement from the hall of fame said, have made "significant contributions to the advertising industry and their community."
The American Advertising Federation's 10th District sponsors the hall of fame. The district covers Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.
"They are the center of Stone Ward's ethos of intelligent thinking, committed service and creative drive," according to the hall of fame. "Stone Ward is widely recognized in the South and Midwest for its innovation and creativity."
While the firm began with an office in Memphis, it was and remains based in Little Rock, a decision the duo said they made because the city had become their home and it was a good place to raise their families.
Still, the beginning was an unassuming one.
Stone and Ward began their shop with three other employees and four clients, renting little more than an office and conference room on the fourth floor of a building at 225 E. Markham St., at the time a forlorn section of downtown. They shared the floor with an architectural firm and a couple with a child who lived in a loft apartment. Their annual billings at the time: about $2 million.
Today, Stone Ward remains at the same four-story building at East Markham and Cumberland streets, but the firm owns it, set in a now-bustling River Market entertainment district.
The firm also boasts more than 50 employees, an office in Chicago and a roster of roughly 30 clients, including Arkansas clients such as Baptist Health, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, as well as a roster of national clients that include US Soccer, Snap-On Tools, Terminix and Sport Clips. Annual billings have grown to $40 million.
Stone and Ward credit others for their firm's success.
"We don't accomplish anything without the faith of God and the generosity of a lot of other people," Ward said. "So many friends in this business helped us be successful."
They credit clients -- they have been the agency of record for Baptist Health for 20 years -- as well as their employees, "who come to work every day and put their passion and talent on the line," she said. "We are both very grateful for all of that."
Ward and Stone have remained atop their company. Ward, 62, has been president since 1991. Stone, 69, is chief executive officer and executive creative director, also since 1991. But they said the firm wouldn't work without John Rogers, the firm's chief financial officer for the past 17 years, guiding the administrative, technology and business end of the firm.
Both already had been in the business before joining their talents, Ward in account managing, marketing and public relations, Stone in art, design and production, for what turned out to be a perfect fit.
"There's not a lot of redundancy between Millie and I," Stone said.
Ward, who obtained a journalism degree from Arkansas State University in 1975, began as a copywriter at Gunter and Associates. She also edited a publication for what is now the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and returned to the private sector as a copywriter at Combs Resneck.
Stone, with a freshly minted degree in design from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La., began as a designer at Bill Kerr Design in 1969 in Little Rock. He worked at a successive series of advertising agencies in the 1970s and early 1980s before joining with Myron Resneck and Ward to form what initially was Resneck Stone Ward in 1984.
Stone and Ward separated from Resneck, who operated the Memphis office, in 1991 and became what is now Stone Ward.
They have had more highs than lows, the latter including times where Stone said he and Ward went without paychecks to ensure everyone else in the firm was paid.
The highs were more fun. Among them:
• Stone Ward was once the agency of record for Nickelodeon and arranged for a train tour with numerous stops for fans to meet their favorite Nick stars.
• Jay Leno once mentioned on The Tonight Show a Terminix commercial Stone Ward produced and directed.
• Stone Ward arranged a partnership with Tom's Shoes and Kris Allen to visit Rwanda for a video shoot to help promote the nonprofit Bridge2Rwanda.
Stone marvels at the changes in technology within the industry. The firm bought its first computer in 1985. It cost $10,000, but it allowed changes to copy to be made on the same page rather than entirely retyping the copy several times.
He notes that technology has allowed the firm to go from concept to actual advertising in a matter of days or even hours rather than the weeks or months it used to take. They can measure the effectiveness of ads in real time on websites and social media platforms and make adjustments accordingly.
But no matter the technology, the firm still relies on the ideas the employees generate.
"Our area of expertise -- what we do -- hasn't changed," Stone said. "How we do it has."
Stone and Ward say that despite induction into the hall, they have no immediate plans to retire.
"Larry and I get up every day as partners and ask ourselves what we can do to make the company better," Ward said. "We haven't lost our passion for that."
SundayMonday Business on 04/02/2017