Plus, she's really good at her job.
Amy came to the Observer in 2006, after working four years at our sister paper, the Houston Press. As soon as her mosquito bites healed and she dried out from years of exposure to tropical humidity, she hit the ground running, rising from ad director to associate publisher of the Observer. Then she left us for three years to run her own marketing and event firm, returning in 2013 as digital advertising director before becoming advertising director in 2014.
So she knows a lot about digital advertising, which is good, as you'll see in the attached press release, but she's not going to be around the office anymore, which is sad.
On the plus side, she told us her secret to making a good Moscow mule: Add a dash of bitters. We'll be doing that in her honor.
Although Dallas Observer advertising director Amy Ero is moving out, she and her longtime friends at Dallas’ leading alternative news source aren’t done doing great things together.
Ero said today she’s leaving the Observer to become managing director of Pink Jacket Studio, a Dallas-based design and consulting agency.
The good news for the Observer: Ero and Pink Jacket, which specializes in branding and marketing for restaurants, will continue to work with the Observer’s thriving digital agency to help a group of select clients improve visibility in the digital realm.
The ongoing collaboration with Ero provides another growth opportunity for the Observer, said Publisher Stuart Folb, who will continue to head the publication’s strong management and sales team after her departure. That team has helped the Observer achieve double-digit year-over-year gains in its digital advertising portfolio.
The Observer, a Dallas institution since 1980, just published its 26th annual Best of Dallas issue, the consummate insider’s guide to leading restaurants, retail shops, bars, clubs and venues. It also continues to win national journalism awards and to produce some of the city’s most popular food and music events.
At the same time, under the leadership of Folb, who serves as both group publisher of the Observer and executive vice president of digital sales for parent company Voice Media Group, the Observer has pioneered cutting-edge agency services for local businesses.
VMG is also the parent company of V Digital Services, a digital advertising agency recently named one of America’s fastest growing private businesses by Inc. magazine. Rapid growth since the inception of VDS has allowed it to open regional offices in 12 major U.S. cities and several international markets. As a Premier Google Partner, VDS offers a team of highly trained analysts and account managers who specialize in helping small and large businesses achieve success in the digital space through expertise in organic SEO, paid media, social media management, web development, and programmatic and pay-per-click advertising.
Combining the VDS team of dedicated specialists with Pink Jacket’s in-house experts means restaurants will have access to a state-of-the-art brand-building experience, Folb said.
“We are thrilled that Amy will get the chance to run her own shop,” Folb added. “And we’re equally thrilled that our teams will work together moving forward.”
The move to Pink Jacket “is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to take my 20 years of advertising and marketing experience to the next level,” said Ero, a Texas native who’s worked for VMG publications on and off for 11 years. “I think my greatest accomplishment with VMG has been learning how to move from running a print sales team to running a truly multimedia operation for clients, and I am grateful that I am leaving the team in good hands.”
