Registering the Draft

DraftWorldwide took the long road to the PROMO 100 list. But it arrived at No. 1. The Chicago-based agency network has its roots in direct marketing, and spent the last two years or so rounding out promotions expertise. Draft bought D.L. Blair in ’97 and KBA Marketing, Chicago, in July ’98. Draft’s parent, Interpublic Group, merged 15-year-old promo shop Lee Hill into Draft’s Chicago office in late ’97, and made Westport, CT-based The Agency at MCA a Draft subsidiary. (MCA has been among the PROMO 100 in the past.)

All that promotion firepower under one roof – well, actually under 46 roofs in 23 countries – has propelled new-business wins beyond Draft’s acquisitions.

“We’ve had lots of organic growth in addition to our purchases,” says president Jordan Rednor. “We meshed the businesses by building them into the fabric of our agency.” Business wins in ’98 included Compaq, Avis, Equal, Searle, and Fort James. Steady clients include M&M/Mars, HBO, Cadillac, and the U.S. Postal Service.

USPS first worked with Lee Hill, then last year asked for broader help from Draft on its stamps program. The results have been impressive – one gold and one bronze Reggie this year – but the road was bumpy. During Draft’s merger with Lee Hill, “there was a period of tremendous promotion support, but the direct side was lacking,” says Azeez Jaffer, USPS exec director of stamp services. Draft fixed that quickly. As USPS shifted toward direct marketing, tapping its 6.5 million-name database, “Draft took the bull by the horns,” Jaffer says.

Draft’s history of direct marketing has spawned innovative one-to-one promotion. Rednor calls it “influence marketing,” a kind of formalized word-of-mouth honed by KBA. Campaigns target trendsetters who influence their peers – you know, those teens who first turned golf hats into a fashion statement.

Current work for Coca-Cola taps trendsetters in Harlem; KBA’s network of 2,000-plus bars and clubs suits tobacco and liquor brands. KBA’s “ear on the street,” coupled with Draft’s research expertise, gives the agency powerful consumer insights, says division president Tina Manikas.

Clients praise Draft’s strategy work. “There’s an ROI mentality attached to their marketing activities,” says longtime client John Billock of HBO.

“I can count on getting good feedback on ideas,” says Avis exec Jill Lipton. “I trust their judgement.”

One research coup is Idea World, Draft’s year-old ideation process for clients and outsiders to brainstorm new products, marketing strategies, and promotion platforms. Draft transforms its massive Chicago conference room into a real-world environment, then brings in staffers, clients, and consumers to bump minds. “Reality sets in when real consumers are sitting there with you,” Manikas laughs.

To flesh out Keebler’s “relaxation” positioning, Draft turned Idea World into a giant living room. “Moderators set the net wide, then funnel down to neat, executable ideas,” Manikas explains.

Once a month, the couches come out again for staffers to kick back and share what’s on their minds. “The fabric of our agency is communication,” Rednor says.

But with 450 to 500 staffers in Chicago, another 400 or so in New York, and 44 more agencies across the globe, how does such a wide network share the same living room chat?

“We’re not so big,” Rednor demurs. “Our challenge is to not to get so big we lose lines of communication.”

CEO Howard Draft is part owner of 56 West, one of Chicago’s hippiest bars.