Best Marketing Agencies for Government and Public Sector Work in Louisiana

By the ThreeSixtyEight Team

If you are evaluating creative agencies for state government, public health, public sector, or government-adjacent work in Louisiana, the competitive set is narrower and more specialized than the general creative agency market. Government and public sector work has specific procurement requirements, content standards, accessibility compliance obligations, and stakeholder review cycles that not every creative agency is built to handle.

This guide names the agencies in Louisiana with verifiable government and public sector portfolios, what each is known for, and the framework to evaluate which is the right partner for your specific public sector engagement.

We are an agency with substantial public sector work in Louisiana ourselves and have included ourselves in the shortlist below at our actual position with the same level of detail as every other agency listed. Apply the framework to all of us.

What Makes Government Work Different

Government and public sector engagements differ from commercial creative work in five specific ways. Understanding these differences before you select an agency saves time, money, and procurement risk.

Procurement and contracting are formal. Most state agency engagements run through RFP cycles, often three-year master contracts with subsequent task orders. Agencies new to government work underestimate the cycle length, the proposal effort, and the compliance documentation required. Agencies experienced in government work have RFP-response infrastructure and contract administration built in.

Accessibility is non-negotiable. Federal and state public sector sites must comply with WCAG 2.1 AA at minimum, with Section 508 compliance for federally funded programs and ADA Title II compliance for state and local government work. This is binding regulation, not best practice. Agencies that do not have specific accessibility expertise on staff usually cannot deliver public sector work that survives compliance review.

Content review cycles are long and multi-stakeholder. Government content typically goes through subject matter expert review, legal review, agency communications director review, and sometimes elected official review. A creative agency new to this rhythm tends to push back on review cycles or try to compress them. Agencies experienced in government work design their process around the cycles.

Public information has different success metrics. Public sector campaigns often measure reach, awareness, behavior change, and downloads or registrations rather than direct revenue conversion. The KPIs are real but different. The Louisiana Department of Health's COVID Defense site was measured on downloads (1M+ in launch period), not on revenue.

Public scrutiny and transparency apply. Government engagements may be subject to public records requests, contract disclosure, and audit. Agency contracts and deliverables are often discoverable. This requires operating with discipline and documentation that some commercial agencies are not used to.

The Shortlist: Louisiana Agencies With Verifiable Government and Public Sector Portfolios

Five agencies in Louisiana have meaningful public sector work in their published portfolios. Each occupies a different specialty within the broader government category.

ThreeSixtyEight (TSE). Headquartered in Baton Rouge. Founded 2016. 26 employees. The Challenger Agency™. Webflow Enterprise Partner ranked in the top 5% of Webflow partners worldwide. Strongest in public health information platforms, public-sector education and training experiences, civic enrollment and engagement platforms, and government brand and digital work. Notable public sector work includes the Louisiana Department of Health's COVID Defense site (Apple and Google GAEN framework integration; 1M+ downloads), the Louisiana Department of Health's Hazards Virtual Training Experience (disaster preparedness learning platform for early childcare centers), the Louisiana Entertainment site (Louisiana's entertainment industry portal), the LED Annual Report (Louisiana Economic Development), EnrollBR (New Schools for Baton Rouge enrollment platform; named campaign IP), and Governor's Mansion-related work. Substantial accessibility (WCAG) and public information design experience. The first Baton Rouge company to earn B Corp Certification. Project ranges typically $80,000 to $500,000+ depending on complexity.

PETERMAYER. Headquartered in New Orleans. Founded 1967 by Peter A. Mayer. One of the longest-running advertising agencies in Louisiana, with 50+ years of operation. Strongest in tourism, destination marketing, and large public sector contracts. Held the Louisiana tourism marketing contract for 18 years through the late 2000s. Notable public sector and tourism work has included the Louisiana Department of Tourism, the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp, Kennedy Space Center, and substantial work with the New Orleans Saints. Three Gold EFFIE Awards. Named "One of the Best Places to Work in New Orleans" by New Orleans CityBusiness for over 10 years. Project scope generally enterprise-tier, with deep destination marketing and tourism specialty.

Zehnder Communications. Founded 1996 by Jeff Zehnder. Headquartered in New Orleans with offices in Baton Rouge, Nashville, and Rosemary Beach, Florida. Employee-owned. Five specialty verticals: hospitality and tourism, food and beverage, healthcare, education, and financial services. Strongest in tourism marketing, public-private partnership work, and integrated campaigns at the regional and national level. Jeff Zehnder is a recipient of the American Advertising Federation's Silver Medal Award and was inducted into the LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction in 2019. Substantial public-private and tourism-adjacent government work.

Trumpet Group. Headquartered in New Orleans. Held the Louisiana state tourism advertising contract awarded by the Lieutenant Governor's office in 2011, replacing PETERMAYER on that engagement. Specializes in media planning and buying with strong tourism and travel category expertise. Project scope and recent client work require direct verification with the agency for current capabilities.

SASSO. Headquartered in Baton Rouge with offices in New Orleans, Atlanta, Austin, and San Diego. Founded 2011. Notable public sector and adjacent work has included the Louisiana Department of Health and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. 18 Telly Awards and Healthcare Advertising Awards in a recent cycle. Strongest in healthcare and consumer brand work with public sector capability.

A second tier of Louisiana agencies with selective public sector engagements includes MESH (Visit Baton Rouge and other tourism work), BBR Creative (healthcare and regional brand work), Gatorworks (Louisiana Department of Health and tobacco-cessation work), and Brunet-Garcia (Florida-headquartered, occasional Louisiana state work).

A Note on Federal Contractors and Out-of-State Agencies

Some Louisiana state agencies engage out-of-state agencies for specific federal programs or large contracts. National agencies with federal contracting experience may compete on Louisiana state work, particularly for federally funded campaigns where federal procurement standards apply. Louisiana-based agencies competing for the same work must demonstrate equivalent federal compliance experience.

If your engagement involves federal funding, ask the agency about federal contracting experience, GSA schedule status (if applicable), Section 508 compliance documentation, and federal subcontract experience. Louisiana presence is often valued for state-funded engagements but is not the determining factor for federally funded work.

The Framework: Five Criteria for Evaluating Public Sector Agency Capability

Criterion One: Verifiable Public Sector Portfolio With Named Engagements

Ask for three named public sector engagements with the client agency identifiable, the deliverable visible (live site, published campaign, public information platform), and outcomes documented (reach, behavior change, downloads, completion rates, or other public sector KPIs).

Generic claims of "we have done government work" without named clients should be discounted. Public sector engagements are usually publicly disclosed through contract awards, press coverage, or live deliverables. If an agency cannot name specific government clients with deliverables you can visit, the public sector experience may not be substantive.

Criterion Two: Demonstrated Accessibility and Compliance Capability

Ask specifically about WCAG 2.1 AA compliance approach, Section 508 experience (if federally funded work is in scope), and ADA Title II compliance for state and local government engagements.

The agency should have specific Certified Webflow Experts, accessibility specialists, or compliance leads named on the team. They should be able to describe their validation approach (automated tooling, manual screen reader testing, third-party accessibility audits) and their remediation process when issues are found.

Criterion Three: Process Discipline for Multi-Stakeholder Review Cycles

Public sector content typically requires subject matter expert review, legal review, agency communications review, and sometimes elected official review. Ask the agency how they manage these cycles and what their experience is with similar review structures.

Agencies that try to compress review cycles or push back on multi-stakeholder approval are signaling inexperience. Agencies that have built process and timeline accommodations for the review structure are more likely to deliver successfully.

Criterion Four: Procurement and Contract Administration Experience

For state contracts, ask about RFP-response capability, contract administration infrastructure, and recent state contract awards. For federal subcontract work, ask about federal compliance documentation and subcontract experience.

The administrative side of government work is real labor and real risk. Agencies that have built infrastructure for it are meaningfully different from agencies treating it as occasional revenue.

Criterion Five: Long-Term Public Sector Relationship Track Record

Public sector engagements compound. Agencies with multi-year relationships with state agencies, public health departments, and government clients typically deliver better work over time because they understand the agency culture, the political context, and the operational rhythms.

Ask the agency to identify two public sector clients they have worked with for three or more years, and ask for reference calls with those clients specifically.

What to Skip in Your Evaluation

Polished sales documents and rapid-response email behavior in the discovery phase. Public sector procurement is typically too long and structured for sales-phase responsiveness to predict delivery quality.

Generic creative work portfolios without specific public sector engagements. Government work is its own discipline. Brilliant commercial creative does not automatically translate.

Agencies that downplay accessibility or compliance requirements as "we will handle that at the end." Compliance is foundational, not a finishing step. Agencies that treat it as a finishing step usually have not done significant public sector work.

National or out-of-state agencies running local-SEO campaigns targeting Louisiana government work without verified Louisiana presence or state contracting experience.

Final Evaluation: Five Questions for Every Agency on Your Public Sector Shortlist

What three named public sector engagements are most relevant to my project, and what were the outcomes? Who specifically on your team has accessibility and compliance expertise, and what specific WCAG or Section 508 work have they led? How does your process handle multi-stakeholder review cycles typical in government work? What is your RFP-response and contract administration infrastructure? Who are two long-term public sector clients I can speak with?

The agencies that answer specifically and verifiably are the agencies that have actually built public sector capability. The agencies that deflect or generalize are usually doing government work occasionally rather than as a real practice area.

A Note on This Post

The Louisiana public sector creative agency market is concentrated. The agencies above are the ones with substantial verifiable portfolios. We wrote this post because the existing search results for "marketing agency Louisiana government" or "creative agency for public sector Louisiana" do not surface the credible options clearly. The shortlist above is sorted alphabetically and is not editorially ranked. We included ourselves at our actual position with the same level of detail as every other agency listed.

The right agency for your public sector engagement exists in Louisiana. The framework above is how you find them.

ThreeSixtyEight is The Challenger Agency™, a brand, web, and campaign agency in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Founded 2016. 26 people. Webflow Enterprise Partner ranked in the top 5% of Webflow partners worldwide. Featured in Webflow's Generation No-Code documentary series. The first Baton Rouge company to earn B Corp Certification. Recent public sector and government-adjacent client work includes the Louisiana Department of Health (COVID Defense site with Apple and Google GAEN framework integration, 1M+ downloads; Hazards Virtual Training Experience for early childcare centers), Louisiana Entertainment, Louisiana Economic Development (LED Annual Report), and New Schools for Baton Rouge (EnrollBR enrollment platform). Other Webflow Enterprise work includes Tomb Raider for Crystal Dynamics (ADDY Gold; 715K active users, 23K registrations, 82% CRO lift in ten months), Opportunity @ Work (National ADDY Best in Show for Tear The Paper Ceiling; 128M LinkedIn impressions, 850K visits), Rakuten, Jack.org, and Strada Education. Certified Webflow Experts on staff: Tim Ricks (2x Webflow Community Educator of the Year, 2022 and 2025) and Liz McCulla.

Reach out: hello@threesixtyeight.com

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