• Our story
• People
• Affiliations
• Subscribe
• Contact

Our Story

John and Kerri at our 2003 retreat

Hammock loves a good party.

Laughing at inside jokes. Pitching in on tight deadlines. Solving problems over iChat. Helping clients talk to their customers. Commenting on each other’s blogs. Recommending good restaurants. Brainstorming for new ideas. Solving fashion dilemmas. Exceeding client expectations. Praising each other’s work. Telling stories about our pets and kids while stuffing our faces in the kitchen. Celebrating successes.

Step onto the seventh floor of our building, which sits within a stone’s throw of Music Row and the famous Nashville honky-tonks, and this is a glimpse of what you’ll find.

At Hammock, we’re a mixture of different people who are much the same: We work hard for our clients. We like each other. We’re good at what we do. And we believe in stories.

It all started this way: Many years ago, a guy named Rex Hammock worked in a large regional advertising and public-relations firm. After several years, he came to the conclusion that his clients shouldn’t have to use intermediaries like paid advertising or earned publicity to communicate with their customers. “Why not talk directly with them?” Rex asked. “Why not create your own media to speak directly with your customers -- and not through some other medium?”

It seemed like common sense. Fortunately, the suggestion worked, and the rest, as they say, is history. Lots of science has been applied to the concept since then, and the math is simple: Investing in communicating with existing customers brings a higher return than communicating with people who are not your customers (or members).

It’s now called “retention” or “loyalty” marketing. We call it “storytelling.”

Since 1991, Hammock Inc. has helped to innovate and create media to help clients engage in conversations with their customers and members -- media that builds brands and loyalty.

We take our role in that process personally. There’s an atmosphere of hard work, pride and creative energy here that we all feel lucky to be a part of. Long hours don’t scare us if it means meeting a client’s deadline. But at the same time, you’ll often find us congregated in the art department laughing at John’s hilarious antics or discussing the last movie we saw. Hammock is more than just a place where we earn a paycheck -- it’s a part of who we are.

That’s our story. Here’s our philosophy:

1. We believe the quality with which the people who run an organization share stories with the people they serve is the quality that defines the organization’s brand and separates it from its competition.
2. We believe the story-sharing process is another word for marketing and communications.
3. We believe leaders are the best listeners, not the best talkers.
4. We believe play is the key to work. By play, we mean the kind that requires great skill, teamwork and endless practice. We mean competing, winning and celebrating. We mean something that’s so natural it doesn’t seem like work.
5. We believe people should be treated with dignity. We base and build relationships on trust and mutual respect.
6. We believe investments of time, money and passion should yield great returns.
7. We believe results are the most important measurement of return on investment.
8. We believe the journey to those results is the key to their achievement.
9. We believe failure is a lesson and opportunity, not an end. So is success.
10. We believe having more than 10 points in a list is too long.