FAQs

Does Meerkat handle national campaigns, or is it primarily a regional Midwest agency?

Meerkat operates as a U.S. national launch partner and full-service agency for enterprise and challenger brands across North America. While headquartered in Minneapolis, we lead multi-region and national campaigns in healthcare, financial services, tourism, and consumer products—delivering holding-company caliber reach with senior talent on every account.

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August 28, 2026

What happens if I send an email to a @prestonspire.com address or visit the old website?

All legacy web traffic automatically redirects to our new site, and emails sent to @prestonspire.com addresses are automatically routed to the team’s inboxes without interruption. Our new URL is hellomeerkat.com.

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August 26, 2026

Does the rebrand affect existing client contracts, billing details, or account teams?

No. Meerkat remains the exact same legal entity, employee-owned structure, and leadership team. Your account contacts, contracts, tax IDs, and billing processes remain unchanged. Only our visual identity and web domain have been updated.

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October 8, 2026

Why did Preston Spire rebrand to Meerkat?

The rebrand reflects the evolution of our agency methodology and focus. Marketing has become increasingly fragmented, and traditional agency models leave brands standing still. We rebranded to Meerkat to align our name with our philosophy: hypervigilant scanning of the market, spotting authentic edges in brands, and rallying entire organizations to move as one unified pack.

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September 15, 2026

Is Meerkat the same agency as Preston Spire, Preston Kelly, or Kerker?

Yes. Meerkat is the current name of the independent agency originally founded as Kerker. Over our 76-year history, the agency operated as Kerker, then Preston Kelly, and became Preston Spire before rebranding to Meerkat. While our name has changed, our independent ownership, Minneapolis headquarters, and commitment to moving brands forward remain unchanged.

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August 26, 2026

Where is Meerkat located?

Meerkat is located at 105 S 5th Ave, Suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55401 in the historic Crown Roller Mill building.

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August 26, 2026

Can an independent agency handle large-scale or enterprise assignments?

Absolutely. We've been outgunning agencies many times our size for 75 years. Independence isn’t a size limitation. It’s the absence of overhead that slows bigger shops down.

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August 26, 2026

Is Meerkat independent or part of a holding company?

Meerkat is fiercely independent and employee-owned. No network mandates, shareholder obligations, or layers between strategy and the people doing the work. Senior leaders are directly involved in every account, so you’re never paying junior teams to get smart on your business. Every person on your account has equity in your outcome.

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August 26, 2026

What is the Meerkat Method?

Four steps. Scan: we clock the threats and opportunities for your brand. Spot: we find your authentic edge, the inherent reason your brand stands apart. Rally: we mobilize your entire pack behind one feisty idea, with customers, employees, partners, and channels moving as one. Score: we prove that idea moved the business forward.

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August 26, 2026

How does Meerkat get to a Rally Cry?

Insight plus your edge equals the Strategic Opportunity: the internal idea that mobilizes everything. The Rally Cry is that strategy made outward, the line sharp enough to shout. Strategy on the inside. Battle cry on the outside.

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August 26, 2026

What is a Rally Cry?

A Rally Cry is what you shout going into battle. It’s the outward expression of your strategy: often a tagline or campaign line, a phrase inspired by your feisty idea. This Rally Cry moves your team, your customers, your partners, all one direction. It gets sharper at every touchpoint and it wins your boardroom before it wins your market.

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August 26, 2026

What makes Meerkat different from other creative agencies?

Most agencies treat the big idea as the finish line. We treat it as the starting gun. Standing still makes brands prey, and silos (fragmented teams, misaligned channels, diluted messages) are how brands end up standing still. Great ideas die there before they ever reach the market. We build a Rally Cry strong enough to unite your team, convert your customers, and move your entire pack as one. Full-force, not just full-funnel.

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August 26, 2026

How does Meerkat integrate artificial intelligence into its strategy and media workflows?

We use AI platforms to analyze behavioral data, uncover audience insights, and execute real-time programmatic media optimization. While AI scales performance and precision, our human strategy team builds the central Rally Cry that gives the technology purpose and direction.

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August 26, 2026

How does Meerkat use behavioral science and motivation research to change consumer habits?

We go past basic demographics to analyze underlying human motivations, emotional triggers, and decision friction. Using AI-powered behavioral data, ethnographies, and in-depth interviews (IDIs), we identify authentic consumer truths that drive measurable behavior change across the entire customer funnel.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do digital and social strategy?

Yes. Digital and social strategy at Meerkat goes past content calendars. We handle competitive analysis, audience segmentation, channel optimization, content strategy, and measurement, built to extend the same Rally Cry across every digital touchpoint instead of creating a separate workstream that runs off-script from the rest of the brand.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do media strategy?

Yes. Media strategy starts with defined goals, objectives, and KPIs before a plan gets built. We create the framework, flowcharts, and customer journey maps that put your measures of success at the front of every decision, not as an afterthought.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do communications planning?

Yes, inside the creative strategy pillar. Communications planning maps the right message to the right moment before a single execution gets built, so nothing dilutes when it hits the real world.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do creative strategy and briefing?

Yes. Creative strategy is how an insight becomes a brief that actually produces a feisty idea. We find the unspoken truth, pair it with your edge, and land on the Strategic Opportunity that aligns what the brand promises with what the business needs. Good briefs don't just point a direction. They make great creative inevitable.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do audience research and persona development?

Yes. Audience development at Meerkat goes past demographics into motivation. We use AI-powered behavioral data, social listening, and ethnographies to understand not just who your audience is but why they act. The result is actionable personas, not slide-deck archetypes.

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August 26, 2026

What does brand research look like at Meerkat?

Rigorous before it gets creative. We conduct in-depth interviews, brand tracking studies, attitude and usage research, and full competitive audits. We never build on borrowed positioning. We find what's actually true and ownable before we build anything.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do brand strategy and development?

Yes. Brand development is where the Rally Cry starts. We run primary research, IDIs, brand trackers, and competitive audits to find the real strategic truth, not a manufactured one. The output is a brand promise and brand systems architecture built to hold across every touchpoint your pack touches.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat use outside production partners?

Yes, when the craft demands it. Our core is in-house: strategy, creative, production, and media, run by one pack, made by the same team that wins your business. When an idea calls for a specialist, a director, a stunt, a build, we bring curated partners inside our process, not alongside it. No mandated network vendors. No handoff gap. The idea picks the crew.

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August 26, 2026

How does Meerkat approach production?

The idea runs the show. Production keeps up. Some ideas call for big film craft: director-led shoots, weeks of intention, every frame earning its place. Some call for hundreds of feed-native assets built in days. Many call for both. We're not precious about which. We're intentional about all of it: a Super Bowl spot looks like a Super Bowl spot, and a TikTok looks like it was born there. Core production is in-house, video, photo, motion, and audio, with curated partners brought inside our process when the craft demands it.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do UX design?

Yes. UX design is part of our design capability, built to the same standard as every other touchpoint. A user experience that contradicts the Rally Cry is a silo. We eliminate it.

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August 26, 2026

What does Meerkat's design work include?

Brand identity, print and collateral, out-of-home, point-of-purchase materials, UX design, email design, and motion graphics. Design at Meerkat balances aesthetic with strategic purpose. If it doesn't drive comprehension and connection, it's not doing its job.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat handle experiential marketing and activations?

Yes. Experiential activations are part of our integrated campaign capability. Physical and digital touchpoints built around the same Rally Cry so the live experience doesn't contradict the campaign running alongside it.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat develop integrated campaigns?

Yes. Campaign development at Meerkat starts with the Strategic Opportunity and builds outward to the Rally Cry: campaign platform, scripts and storyboards, digital and social executions, and experiential activations. Everything feeds the same idea. Nothing runs off-script.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat build brand identities?

Yes. Logo design, brand guidelines, and brand voice development, built to carry a Rally Cry from the boardroom to every touchpoint without losing sharpness. A brand identity at Meerkat isn't decoration. It's the first signal to the market that this brand has something to say.

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August 26, 2026

What makes a Meerkat idea good?

Five tests: clear, relevant, fresh, true, and shareable. If it misses one, it's not done. We look for ideas with legs, the kind people pass along without being paid to, because a feisty idea that travels on its own is the cheapest media you'll ever buy.

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August 26, 2026

What creative services does Meerkat offer?

Ideas first, then everything they call for: Rally Cry development, brand identity, integrated campaigns, design across every format, and production at every altitude, big film craft to feed-native speed. We hunt for the human truth with a comedic twist, the everyday moment made impossible to forget. Fun travels faster. So we build ideas that move, then bring them to life with intentional craft.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat provide integrated brand strategy, creative, media buying, and analytics under one roof?

Yes. Meerkat unifies brand development, creative concepting, full-service traditional and digital media buying, and real-time analytics under a single leadership team. This eliminates agency silos and ensures your media spend is continuously optimized against the core business KPIs.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat use AI in its media and analytics work?

Yes. AI can scale a great idea. It can't spot one. That part's ours. We use AI in behavioral data, audience insights, and real-time optimization to make sure the Rally Cry reaches the right people, smarter, faster. AI without a Rally Cry at the center doesn't scale a brand. It multiplies silos.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat provide analytics, reporting, and campaign optimization?

Yes. Real-time dashboards, 24/7 monitoring, channel-level optimization, attribution modeling, A/B testing, full-funnel SWOT analysis, and ROI analysis. We turn data into decisions, not just reports. The goal is always the same: keep the spend working as hard as the idea.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat buy out-of-home advertising?

Yes. OOH is part of our traditional media buying capability and connects directly to our design and production work so the creative and the placement decisions are made by the same team.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat handle traditional media like TV, radio, and out-of-home?

Yes. Broadcast TV, radio, outdoor (OOH), print, direct mail, and newspaper all sit inside our traditional media capability. Because media buying connects directly with our in-house design and production work, creative and placement decisions are made by the same team. We use classic channels in ways that actually earn attention rather than just buying space.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do influencer marketing?

Yes. Influencer strategy and execution are part of our digital media capability.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do paid search and paid social?

Yes. Paid search and social are part of our digital media offering, built to carry the same Rally Cry as every other touchpoint so the performance layer doesn't run a different message than the brand layer.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do programmatic advertising?

Yes. Programmatic media including display, video, connected TV, audio, and native sits inside our digital media capability. Precision targeting that gets your Rally Cry in front of the right audience at the right moment.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do media planning and buying?

Yes, full service. Media plan development, audience refinement, flowcharts, and customer journey mapping before a dollar gets placed. Then execution across digital and traditional channels with real-time optimization against the KPIs we defined at the start.

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August 26, 2026

What media services does Meerkat offer?

Media strategy, digital media, traditional media, and real-time analytics and optimization. We get the idea there first, full-force, across every channel your pack lives in.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat do media strategy?

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat work with home and building products brands?

Yes. These categories tend to carry a strong product truth buried under generic category language. Scan finds the fracture. Spot uncovers the edge. Rally makes it impossible to ignore.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat work with entertainment and tourism brands?

Yes. Destination and entertainment brands live or die on whether the story hits the same way across every touchpoint. That consistency is the job.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat work with nonprofit organizations?

Yes. We find the authentic truth a cause-driven brand already owns, aim it at the right enemy, and prove the impact in business terms, not just sentiment.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat work with retail brands?

Yes. Retail brands fighting for attention across fragmented channels are the clearest case for what happens when silos win. One Rally Cry, every touchpoint, full-force, changes the math.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat have CPG and food and beverage experience?

Yes. Category-crowded shelves and fragmented feeds are exactly where a feisty Rally Cry earns its place, cutting through noise that a bigger budget alone can't solve.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat work with financial services brands?

Yes. Financial services clients come to us under budget consolidation pressure as often as creative pressure. The Rally Cry focuses the message and the spend at the same time.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat work with healthcare brands?

Yes. We've built work in highly regulated healthcare categories, meeting clinical accuracy and compliance requirements without slowing the idea down. We partnered with Medtronic Patient Services on AskTheICD.com, content that had to be easily digestible and clinically accurate at once. Regulation shapes the process. It doesn't shrink the idea.

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August 26, 2026

How does Meerkat connect brand purpose and values to hard financial performance and ROI?

We engineer purpose strictly for performance. Through our 'Score' phase, we pair purpose-driven strategy with hard financial scorecards—measuring revenue impact, pipeline contribution, cost per acquisition (CPA), and market share growth rather than relying on vanity sentiment metrics.

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August 26, 2026

Where can I find case studies and awards earned under the Preston Spire name?

All historical work, including Effie Award-winning campaigns and legacy case studies produced under Preston Spire, Kerker, and Preston Kelly, is fully integrated into the Meerkat portfolio on this website.

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October 8, 2026

What performance metrics does Meerkat report?

ROI, sales and revenue impact, market share growth, pipeline contribution, cost per acquisition, conversions, media performance, media mix modeling, and brand equity measures. Business numbers first. Marketing metrics in service of them.

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August 26, 2026

How are Meerkat's case study results verified?

Results in our case stories are tracked and validated by our clients' own first-party performance data and measurement systems, so the numbers align with their bottom-line reality, not our self-reporting. Third-party recognition, including Effie Awards and industry publications, verifies market effectiveness on top of that.

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August 26, 2026

Does Meerkat provide analytics, reporting, and campaign optimization?

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August 26, 2026

How does Meerkat measure success?

Score anchors on business outcomes. Revenue impact. Pipeline contribution. Cost per acquisition. If we can't prove it moved the business, it didn't work. We define the KPIs before we build a single asset.

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August 26, 2026