Rebels with a cause

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA — NFL fans will remember “The Drive,” when Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway led the Denver Broncos on an electrifying, 98-yard drive in the game’s final minutes to beat the Cleveland Browns in the 1986 AFC Championship Game. Fast-forward 35 years and we raise the curtain on “The Move,” featuring leading brand marketing and advertising firm, Spiro & Associates, and its quarterback, Christopher Spiro.

This legendary team of ‘brand architects’ is moving from its current location at 2286 West First Street in downtown Fort Myers to a building occupied by another famous player in the Fort Myers area, the Wilbur Smith Law Firm.

Inside Suite 200 at 2200 Broadway, the creative team at Spiro & Associates will craft its signature brand of creative planning and ideation for its clients. On the floor above, the attorneys at the Wilbur Smith Law Firm, under the leadership of Sawyer Smith, will provide expert legal advice.

“Sawyer said he didn’t want just anybody underneath him, he wanted the right partner,” said Spiro, president and chief creative officer.

The partnership also works because Spiro considers he and Sawyer to be “rebels,” willing to push the envelope to achieve strong, successful results for clients.

When John Talmage (Lee County’s Economic Development Office director) learned Spiro and Smith would be under the same roof, he exclaimed, “You two rebels under the same rooftop, sounds like rebel hell,” according to Spiro. Talmage told Spiro: “You two guys are forward thinking, stir the pot, have similar community ties, similar points of view – and are both (Florida) Gators.”

While Spiro & Associates will occupy half of the second floor, the remaining half will be utilized as business incubator space. Spiro hopes to attract a photographer or videographer to the space, affording their skills to his business and, possibly, the law firm.

The building itself has a distinct personality. Called “The Alibi,” playing off a legal term, it is the first commercial structure located where the new Midtown project is proposed. On one wall is a mural of the “Scales of Justice,” painted by a local schoolteacher. Another mural – with a tantalizingly strong Miami Beach look – is planned for the front of the building.

The business locations of Spiro & Associates are not the agency’s first time on “The Move.”
The firm started in Cape Coral 35 years ago, later moved to a Whiskey Creek location in Fort Myers, then to Royal Palm Square and, most recently, to West First Street in downtown.
The current move is scheduled for early October.

About Spiro & Associates

Spiro & Associates is one of Southwest Florida’s largest marketing, advertising, public relations and brand architecture firms. The company serves local, regional, and national clients in the fields of land development, construction, retail, residential and commercial real estate, law, marine products, business, residential services, and many more.