Agencies

Paul Venables of San Francisco independent Venables, Bell and Partners is feeling the rush right now. His agency just won the Audi account. The win defines his agency as big time. According to Adweek, Venables said, "Nothing legitimizes an agency like a car, and there's no better car to get than a prestigious German car." Meanwhile the 13-year incumbent, Havas-owned McKinney in Durham, N.C., bows out politely. Brad …

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The Chicago Tribune reports on the aftermath of DraftFCB's Wal-Mart win/loss. Observers of the ad business had been waiting for a reaction from DraftFCB, which finds itself under the glare of publicity and seemingly in a vulnerable business position. Wal-Mart took back its account this month, even before DraftFCB had started work for the retailer, indicating that something had gone wrong during the pitch process. In …

Continue Reading about Draft Investigates Itself, Clears Itself Of Wrongdoing →

Tampa agency, Pyper Paul + Kenney, thanks to several recent account wins have brought the new agency's annual capitalized billings to more than $40 million in just a little more than two years. "In markets like New York City and Los Angeles, there are plenty of large agencies with talented people at the top, but clients never know if they're going to get the 'C Team' working on their account after the pitch is over …

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Crain's Chicago Business takes a closer look at the city's advertising scene. You can tell by the title of the article that the perception is it ain't too good there: Dream of Chicago ad revival is dashed: The city's ad agencies, decimated after years of losing headquarters and major accounts, seemed poised to regain their fizz when local player DraftFCB Group aced out Madison Avenue in winning the Wal-Mart Stores …

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Troubled Chicago conglomerate Draft FCB is planning to open up "an offshoot that would, if all goes according to plan, become a separate, independent full-service shop that would be part of the same parent holding company, IPG," according to Lewis Lazare of Chicago Sun Times. Lazare says the new agency is being created to handle accounts that present problematic conflicts of interest resulting from the merger of …

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Ad Age reports on further blurring of "the line" that has long separated ad agencies (above-the-line) from their country cousins in direct and promo shops (below-the-line). In a move it hopes can reverse its slumping new-business fortunes, Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett Worldwide is taking direct/interactive sibling Arc Worldwide under its corporate umbrella. While Burnett executives are cautious not to label the move …

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For 32 years, until Julie Roehm walked in the door, Kansas City's Bernstein-Rein took the lead on the Wal-Mart ad account. This fascinating article in The Pitch (a local KC publication) traces the history of the account: Walton had chosen Bernstein-Rein for one reason: a simple ad he'd seen for the now-defunct Milgram Food Stores. It featured "Janie from Milgram's," who did nothing more in the commercial than list …

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The Chicago Tribune, which I think rarely publishes interesting stories about the ad world compared to the Sun-Times' inimitable Lewis Lazare, ponders the immediate future of DraftFCB: DraftFCB needs to act quickly to restore its reputation, say public relations experts who specialize in crisis communications. If Draft and his team determine the agency did nothing wrong, they should write a strongly worded letter to …

Continue Reading about If You Were Howard Draft, What Would You Do Today? →