Adweek reports that former Chief Marketing Officer at Coors, Ron Askew, is headed home to Dallas and the agency that gave him his start in the business. Askew is now the CEO of Omnicom-owned Tracy Locke.
The article fails to mention that Askew left Tracy Locke in 1993, when he and a group of partners (also from TLP) purchased the Coors marketing department and fashioned it into The Integer Group. Integer, literally born from the brewer’s rib, is the sales promotion agency for Coors, and on the stregth of that account ranks as one of the largest promo shops in the business.
Omnicom held a minority interest in Integer from the beginning. In 2001, the megalithic holding company bought Askew and partners out and now owns the agency outright. For some, such a purchase would signal the start of a long golf-infused retirement. Askew instead took the marketing helm at Coors, his former client. While at the brewery, Askew put the “Somewhere Near Golden” spots on ice, opting for much sexier spots featuring the now infamous Coors Light twins.
1. So bought a piece of Coors.
2. Then he serviced the Coors business.
3. Then he went to work for Coors.
4. Now he’s going back to work for a competitor of #2, albeit a division of his former employer.
Weirdness.
Goes to show, “who you know” is still a potent prescription for success. And it shows how small the world of advertising really is.