About Ervin & Smith
Built on clarity. Driven by integrity.
Since 1983, Ervin & Smith has been a trusted strategic partner for leaders who want marketing to serve the business, not the other way around. Headquartered in Omaha, we help companies use marketing to solve complex problems and deliver measurable results.
Our mission is to seek the truth and use it to make an impact.
We are not a typical marketing agency. You won’t get locked into vague, over-reaching scopes or be “sold” new campaigns for the sake of ego.
You get senior-level advisors who can work with your leadership team, connect business goals to marketing outcomes and support every decision with data and real-world experience.
And because the stakes are high, we’re disciplined about how we operate, how we communicate and what we hold ourselves accountable to.
We believe how we work matters just as much as what we deliver.
Our core values. Lived every day.
1.
Stay curious but confident.
What works today might not work tomorrow, and that’s ok. We stay resourceful and agile, with a dose of “never settle” in our bones. We take calculated risks and share our POV — our teammates and clients want to know.2.
Give a damn.
About our clients, our company, our community and each other. We care passionately about the work we do and the results we achieve.3.
Own your sh*t.
We stay accountable to ourselves and each other, celebrate our wins and — when things go wrong — we examine, acknowledge, pick up and move on.4.
Be real.
We are open, honest and show respect for each other. It’s not just about the work we do but how we do it. Trust is built through clarity and candor.5.
Be really good.
We strive to be experts in our own roles, high performers with high capacity. We use our experience to make the best decision at every turn. And the work we present is work that only our team could produce.6.
Make it fun.
We really enjoy what we do, so even when we’re working hard, we know how to make it fun and fulfilling. Which is important; our work lives are a pretty big part of our whole lives.Leaders trust us with their most important marketing decisions.
We’ve had the opportunity to partner with remarkable organizations, from legacy brands to fast-growing companies.
Great work and good business go hand in hand.
This belief guides how we work, who we hire and how we show up for clients. As Nebraska’s 9th Certified B Corp, we’re committed to transparency, accountability and impact — for our clients, our community and our team. Learn more about our B Corp commitment and what it means for how we do business.
The experts behind E&S.
The work has changed. The standards haven’t.
Ervin & Smith was founded in 1983 by Doug Smith with a clear point of view: treat people well, hold the work to a high standard and take creative excellence seriously. Those principles shaped the firm from the beginning and continue to guide how we work today.
Today, we’re owned and led by an all-women executive team. That leadership reflects both continuity and progress: the same commitment to integrity and quality the firm was built on, paired with a modern understanding of business, leadership and marketing’s role at the executive level. For many clients, it brings a valuable perspective to their leadership teams — and a partnership grounded in clarity and long-earned credibility.
Lindsay Johnson is a strategic media leader with 19 years of experience turning data-driven insights into high-performing campaigns. With expertise in media strategy, planning and buying across both traditional and digital channels, she excels at guiding her teams to identify target audiences, optimize budgets and negotiate competitive media placements that deliver maximum ROI. Known for blending creativity with analytical rigor, Lindsay leverages market research and industry trends to inspire integrated plans that anticipate consumer behavior and keep brands ahead of the curve.