• by September 8, 2004

One guy handles client negotiations and billings. Another serves as the creative czar, and a third manages client interactions and accounts.

They are Pete, Ted, and Mike - Glow Interactive's charismatic triumvirate. New York-based Glow is comprised of a tightly knit group of people who routinely exceed clients' expectations not only creatively, but especially when it comes to impossible deadlines.

Though apparently nothing is impossible.

The guys and their staff will work all night to turn around projects, often going straight to a client meeting with the sand freshly rubbed from their eyes. Yes, that is dedication. It's also a kick-ass entrepreneurial spirit that you won't find at bigger agencies.

Bobbie Halfin, vice president of sales at Eyeblaster, knows of such commitment. She turned to the guys for a last-minute project late last year. "We had to produce something for a live ad that had a timely news tie-in. It was an emergency project; the kids stayed up all night and got it done," she recalls. "They have a 'we-try-harder' mentality."

Halfin credits Glow with superior technical and creative expertise and an elegant understanding of in-stream video. "They have top-of-the-line technical expertise, but what they combine that with is [a] really cutting-edge ability to combine video with other online formats," she says, adding, "Whether that's video within a banner or in a stream, they are able to put the video in the banner in a really beautiful way. The ads are much more appealing from a graphic standpoint."

Large creative and media shops hire Glow for specific accounts. For example, Glow works regularly with Earthquake Media on projects for popular HBO shows including "Six Feet Under." The agency also works with Horizon Media, Avenue A, Tangible Media, Y&R, Hollywood studios, and various design firms. Most of its work comes through word-of-mouth.

In the case of Voom, a provider of high-definition TV programming, Glow competed against incumbent R/GA and other big shops to win the account. Glow is handling all online advertising for the Cablevision subsidiary. Spectacular eye-popping online ads are running on the Discovery Channel's Web site in the HD Theater section and SportsLine. Check 'em out.