Garrett Gillin, 37
MBA marketing ’14
Jon Vogel, 37
MBA innovation management and entrepreneurship ’14
CO-FOUNDERS/PRINCIPALS, 215 MARKETING AND UNITS MARKETING
Garrett Gillin, 37
MBA marketing ’14
Jon Vogel, 37
MBA innovation management and entrepreneurship ’14
CO-FOUNDERS/PRINCIPALS, 215 MARKETING AND UNITS MARKETING
A partnership forged during their Drexel MBA program helped Garrett Gillin and Jon Vogel grow a student startup into a national marketing firm serving companies across the country.
215 Marketing originally took its name from the Philadelphia area code but make no mistake: It’s a national company now, with clients around the world and employees from coast to coast.
The company’s Philadelphia roots are an essential part of its story, though. Gillin and Vogel launched it while earning their MBAs at the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business. Their startup took root in the Laurence A. Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship — an incubator providing mentorship, business competitions, legal resources and seed funding to student businesses that is also responsible for successfully incubating delivery giant GoPuff and the college-scholarship app Scholly.
Gillin and Vogel met on the first day of orientation for their MBA program in 2012. With small businesses in their family backgrounds, jumping in headfirst on a new venture came naturally to both.
“I think, to some degree, we both thought we might go into entrepreneurship. I didn’t think I was going to meet someone in our MBA program and start a company with them.”
The two started building their portfolio early on, landing clients at happy hours and networking events and establishing themselves as young, hungry guys who’d pull all-nighters just to secure a deal or launch a website.
While the company still handles basic marketing functions like websites and billboard ads, these days its employees advise on much more sophisticated business functions. “Now, we get into sales and CRM and analytics, and we’re consulting on retention and pricing strategies,” Gillin says.
Last year was a big one for Vogel and Gillin, with 215 Marketing earning awards from local and national outlets including Entrepreneur, Adweek and the Philadelphia Business Journal, which named it one of the fastest-growing companies in the Delaware Valley.
The numbers back it up — nearly $8 million in total revenue in 2025, reflecting more than 200% growth since 2021. Vogel sees the momentum as the result of steady work. “Last year wasn't anything special — there’s no magic wand,” he says. “I think it reflects the aggregation of doing right by clients year after year, campaign by campaign, and yielding the benefits of doing right by people and getting results.”
Success can look very different across 215 Marketing’s portfolio — from a one-person contracting and plumbing business to an international software-as-a-service company, with small- and medium-sized companies across industries such as manufacturing and financial in between. That’s where 215 Marketing’s ability to create custom solutions sets them apart. “We are more like a partner to their full business than a marketing agency,” Gillin says.
In recent years, a new focus on franchise services has helped 215 Marketing go national. In 2022, Gillin and Vogel created Units, a subagency focused on managing operations for franchisees. Entrepreneur magazine recognized them in 2025 as a Top Franchise Supplier, reflecting their emphasis in that area. The nationwide reach of their client base prompted 215 Marketing to go fully remote after the COVID-19 pandemic and forgo a physical office in Philadelphia.
Though the company has ranged far from its original home base, the Philadelphia area and the Drexel network have remained vital to them.
“I feel like, as an alum, you can reach out to people who went to Drexel and there’s an immediate bond. We’ve come across business opportunities with other Drexel alumni numerous times, and I think just having that camaraderie around the brand is important.”
What propels 215 Marketing today — dedication to relationships, adaptability and a willingness to never be outworked — has shaped the company’s approach to clients from the start and helped its earliest customers grow alongside it. Universal Credit Services and TenantReports.com first approached 215 Marketing while Gillin and Vogel were working out of the Baiada Institute. Those companies were later rolled up into a new company, Xactus, which has remained their client even as it swelled into a multimillion-dollar financial data firm. Other longtime clients, like plasma donor service B-Positive and medical device company Boehringer Labs, have remained fixtures of the firm’s portfolio.
“We were never the cool concept in Baiada,” Gillin says, recalling peers who were developing must-have apps and groundbreaking technology. “But we were among the most determined in that building — and we believed then, and still believe now, that grit and consistency will always find a way.”
“At the end of the day, it comes down to perseverance,” Vogel says. “Drexel gave us the foundation, but conviction and simply finding a way is what built this.”
Our Greatest Accomplishment:
Building and growing organizations that create meaningful opportunities for others. Through 215 Marketing and Units, we’ve grown talented teams, delivered measurable results for clients, and established systems that support long-term, sustainable growth. We focus on cultivating an environment where people feel supported, challenged and empowered to take on greater responsibility, and where they can rely on us as trusted resources. Above all, we want to see our team members thrive and carry the skills and confidence they gain with us into everything they do, both at work and beyond.
How Drexel Shaped Our Path:
Drexel is where we met and where we began building what would become 215 Marketing. While earning our MBAs, we balanced coursework with the realities of running a business. That experience allowed us to directly apply what we were learning in the classroom to real client work, financial decisions and operational challenges. The access to mentorship and resources through Drexel played a key role in helping us navigate those early stages and establish a foundation for how we operate today.
Where We Hope To Be in Five Years:
We plan to continue scaling both 215 Marketing and Units in a way that is intentional, sustainable and people-first. We want to invest further in developing leaders within our team, strengthen client partnerships and continue refining how we operate. We also plan to expand our involvement in mentorship, education and community initiatives to create more opportunities for others. Beyond our current businesses, we aspire to launch new ventures focused on solving complex, real-world problems — ideas that create meaningful value in society and help etch our legacy in the world. Success for us will be defined by the strength of our teams, the consistency of our results and the long-term impact we are able to create. DM
Our Greatest Accomplishment:
Building and growing organizations that create meaningful opportunities for others. Through 215 Marketing and Units, we’ve grown talented teams, delivered measurable results for clients, and established systems that support long-term, sustainable growth. We focus on cultivating an environment where people feel supported, challenged and empowered to take on greater responsibility, and where they can rely on us as trusted resources. Above all, we want to see our team members thrive and carry the skills and confidence they gain with us into everything they do, both at work and beyond.
How Drexel Shaped Our Path:
Drexel is where we met and where we began building what would become 215 Marketing. While earning our MBAs, we balanced coursework with the realities of running a business. That experience allowed us to directly apply what we were learning in the classroom to real client work, financial decisions and operational challenges. The access to mentorship and resources through Drexel played a key role in helping us navigate those early stages and establish a foundation for how we operate today.
Where We Hope To Be in Five Years:
We plan to continue scaling both 215 Marketing and Units in a way that is intentional, sustainable and people-first. We want to invest further in developing leaders within our team, strengthen client partnerships and continue refining how we operate. We also plan to expand our involvement in mentorship, education and community initiatives to create more opportunities for others. Beyond our current businesses, we aspire to launch new ventures focused on solving complex, real-world problems — ideas that create meaningful value in society and help etch our legacy in the world. Success for us will be defined by the strength of our teams, the consistency of our results and the long-term impact we are able to create. DM
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