Gage Marketing Group has produced a spin off the old block. Geoffrey Gage, son of chairman E.C. "Skip" Gage and grandson of Carlson Companies founder Curt Carlson, has left the agency to start his own advertising and Internet marketing company. Trading on two recognized names in the marketing universe, Gage put his own name on the firm, calling it Geoffrey Carlson Gage LLC.

"I was given a fantastic brand name at birth and I guess I felt compelled to do something with it," said Gage, who was the communications coordinator and a project manager at Gage. Skip Gage formed his company in 1991 after a 25-year career working at his father-in-law's Carlson Companies, where he built up the marketing department.

Gage calls his venture, which also will be based in Minneapolis, "a traditional advertising agency with an Internet twist." Services will include Web site creation and development. "The most powerful Web sites are an integrated combination of advertising, marketing, and technology. Yet most sites focus on one specific area, not the overall package." His wife Kelly will join him in the business.

Before joining his father's business in 1992, Gage worked as a copywriter at Campbell Mithun Esty for three years. "I am returning to advertising, which is what I do best," he says.