What Bradshaw & Bryant Of St. Cloud, Minnesota Can Teach Madison Avenue About How Advertising Really Works; The Secret: Be Known Before You’re Needed
These days Madison Avenue is obsessed with the science of measuring the short-term sales effect of advertising and converting existing demand.
How advertising really works: Meet Bradshaw & Bryant of St. Cloud, Minnesota
1,261 miles to the west of New York City lies St. Cloud, MN, the home of Bradshaw & Bryant, the famous law firm people seek out when they want “justice for the injured.”
Bradshaw & Bryant practices every day what Madison Avenue has forgotten. To generate substantial sales and profit, a business or even a law firm needs to create future demand rather than just obsessing over converting existing demand.
Michael Bryant of Bradshaw & Bryant had spent a lot of money getting their name out, not having much success.
In 2005, after attending a marketing seminar with his local radio rep, Kris Priebe from Leighton Broadcasting, Michael decided to focus on three things: his message, his media, and how he measured success.
He started to use storytelling, his voice, and a jingle that burned in “justice for the injured” with each story Michael told.
Each year, Bradshaw & Bryant devote about 7% of their revenues to advertising. They started with a focus on dominating one radio station, soon adding 3 more. After the first year, they tripled the practice.
As they grew, they bought more ads on more radio stations and soon became one of the largest advertisers on St. Cloud radio, buying only 52 weeks contracts with a weekly 3 frequency. Close to 70% of their budget is “upper funnel” radio. 15% is spent digitally. 5% on cable.
Bradshaw & Bryant ads are straight forward and genuine, with Michael always coming in after a story with his firm, confident, and very comforting voice. They usually end with the jingle that exclaims, “Justice for the injured…Bradshaw & Bryant!”
Today, Michael Bryant’s message lives inside people’s heads, rent free, bigger and better than most national brands. Bradshaw & Bryant is the undisputed leader in the minds of St. Cloud when it comes to personal injury attorneys.
To understand the magnitude of the brand Bradshaw & Bryant has built with long-term advertising on AM/FM radio, the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® commissioned Quantilope to conduct a study of 120 consumers in the St. Cloud DMA in May 2025.
Bradshaw & Bryant dominates unaided brand awareness
Consumers were asked, “When you think of personal injury lawyers and criminal defense attorneys, which ones come to mind?” Respondents had to write in all the brand names they could think of. They were not provided with a list of firms.
Of all attorney firms named, Bradshaw & Bryant leads in unaided awareness at 28%. Bradshaw & Bryant’s unaided awareness outperforms the next firm by more than two to one.
Why local retailers have to continually advertise: People are moving into your town who have no awareness of your business
The longer people have lived in the area, the greater the awareness of Bradshaw & Bryant. 41% of consumers who have lived in the St. Cloud, MN area for 10+ years were able to name Bradshaw & Bryant on an unaided basis. 9% of consumers who have lived in the area for less than 10 years were able to name Bradshaw & Bryant unaided when asked about attorneys.
This is great lesson for local retailers. Your business might be super famous but every day new people move to town who have never heard of your business, an important reason to continuously advertise your business. Also, advertising memories fade.
AM/FM radio advertising works
Among AM/FM radio listeners, Bradshaw & Bryant’s awareness is +19% greater than in the overall market.
Bradshaw & Bryant’s AM/FM radio ads are memorable; AM/FM radio ads are strongly associated with Bradshaw & Bryant
Those who recalled Bradshaw & Bryant advertising were asked where they have seen or heard advertising for the brand. 70% of Bradshaw & Bryant’s budget goes to AM/FM radio ads, which are strongly associated with the brand. Of those who recall having been exposed to Bradshaw & Bryant ads, 54% say they heard AM/FM radio ads.
While a tiny proportion of Bradshaw & Bryant’s budget is spent on TV, 60% think they recall being exposed to TV ads.
Easy to mind, easy to find
By patiently investing in brand building advertising to create future demand, Bradshaw & Bryant has made his service “easy to think of and easy to buy.”
In the end, Bradshaw & Bryant’s lesson for Madison Avenue is that advertising is not just about manically measuring short-term performance. It’s about “being known before you’re needed.”