In a world where it seems we're never more than three LinkedIn connections away from anyone, I'd venture to say there's no form of marketing more effective than having happy people work for you.

And this is coming from the owner of an ad agency, mind you.

We are in the business of creating marketing ideas that help our clients sell more products. Yet running a good campaign is not the solution to every business problem. We constantly counsel our clients on the value of internal communications. We do brand audits, lead internal strategy sessions, create internal campaigns, all in an effort to ensure our clients' employees understand and live the brand. It is the foundation of any great company. When those who make your product, sell your product, fix your product, are happy and informed, that attitude is going to infect others throughout your networks and by association, rub off on the products they make. It's like a disease you want to get.

When our clients do well internally, the external campaigns we create for them are a helluva lot more powerful because they're backed up by the enthusiasm of the people who work there.

That's why I was especially proud to see our company make this year's list of Outside Magazine's 50 Best Places to Work. It validates what we tell our clients: create a pleasant work environment in which everyone understands and lives the brand; and you'll have a big head start towards attracting consumers who want to purchase your product.

Because here at Mercury, we've found that if you're a great company to work for, you're also likely to be a great company to work with.