Mojo a gogo
She is now the grande dame at an agency that sees itself as a grande dame of the promotions industry. But grand doesn’t equal staid, and Jean Mojo has been dancing fast in recent months.
Mojo has been at Einson Freeman for 16 years. The venerable agency began in 1909 as a print and display advertising business, and made its first claim to fame in the 1930s with the Miss Rheingold beauty pageant campaign — which ran for over 30 years (in 1956, it generated nearly as many votes as that year’s presidential election). Over the years, Einson positioned itself a specialist in sales promotion, and now generates over $100 million in billings annually for such clients as IBM, Nestlé USA, Reynolds Metals, Sears, Unilever and First Union Bank.
When she was promoted to president and CEO of the agency in 2002, however, Mojo saw an opportunity to correct some “imbalances” at the agency. “We were heavy on the middle management and execution side, but we didn’t have the senior people I knew we needed to grow.” Reconfiguring her lineup became a top priority for Mojo. In recent months, she has hired a new COO, George Casabona, and a new senior partner for business development, Cory Kallet (both migrated over from DVC). “Now we have folks with the strong senior perspective that will help us build and maintain client relationships,” she says.
The results are starting to come in. As the new year kicks off, Einson has landed three “nice” new pieces of business (Mojo’s adjective): a project for AT&T Wireless, to be coordinated with Ogilvy-originated advertising, a campaign for biotech firm Aventis BioServices, and a new product launch for Lipton coordinated with J. Walter Thompson. (Both Ogilvy and Thompson are sister agencies with Einson under the parent WPP.)
“Thompson wanted to provide its client, Lipton, with integrated services, from ads to sales promotion, and they thought of us,” says Mojo. While the integration of promotions with other marketing disciples has been the holy grail for many for years, “It’s finally happening,” she says, and agencies are leading the trend. “Ad agencies are realizing that they’re not experts in promotions, and they are increasingly realizing the value of integration.”
Client enthusiasm for the trend has been mixed, she acknowledges. Some clients are pushing their agency partners for integration of overall campaigns, but for the most part brand managers like to manage their own resources, assigning ads there, p.r. over there, and promotions here. “They tend to like to keep their eggs in more than one basket,” Mojo says.
But the recession challenged old notions on both the client and agency side, and new ways of doing business are getting a hearing they may not have previously. With its new execs on board, Einson can complete an integrated play. Kallet, the new business development partner, brings a background in brand management and advertising to the table, and Casabona has had previous product side responsibilities and online marketing experience at DVCi technologies.
“Clients are realizing they need help guiding their businesses. They’re still cautious, but much more proactive in recent months as they plan for next year,” says Mojo. “I think it’s going to be a good year for promotion.”
