TOP EXECUTIVES: Michael Carey, senior vice president, director of brand promotions; Mary McLaughlin, vice president, director of brand promotions; Pam Hamlin, president, Arnold Boston
2006 U.S. NET REVENUE: $67.5 million
KEY CLIENTS: Tyson, Ocean Spray, Hershey, RadioShack, Estée Lauder
HEADQUARTERS: Boston
being a specialist arm of a major advertising agency has its benefits. But it also has its downside, as Arnold Brand Promotions found in December 2005.
That’s when parent Arnold Worldwide lost its biggest account: Volkswagen of America. Arnold Brand Promotions, through no fault of its own, suddenly needed to replace a major chunk of business.
How did it respond? By landing several new clients and by doing some fine creative work. The proof? Arnold has won the top ranking in this year’s Promo 100.
The Boston promotions shop reported net 2006 revenue of $67.5 million. Half of it came from existing clients like Tyson, Fidelity, Estée Lauder and American Legacy Foundation.
One happy client is Amtrak.
“It is a very collaborative effort,” says Gail Reisman, Amtrak’s senior director, national advertising and marketing programs, of working with the agency. “They truly act as a partner. They believe strongly in their approach.”
Not that there was ever any doubt about it. Arnold Brand Promotions was named Promo’s Agency of the Year in 2006, and it has ranked in the top five for its creative work for two years.
But the Volkswagen loss hurt.
“It was a big loss, not only from the competitive perspective, but from a personal level,” says Mary McLaughlin, Arnold’s vice president, director of brand promotions. “We were very invested for 10 years in building this brand. It was a tough time.”
Morale dropped when staffers heard the news. Some left the agency. Others were laid off.
“It’s no secret that last year was a challenging year for us,” says Pam Hamlin, president, Arnold Boston, who oversees the promotions group. “Whenever an agency loses its biggest client, there’s a lot of soul searching that goes on. So, we said, ‘Let’s use this opportunity to really define what this company is truly made of.’”
This led to an Arnold-wide reorganization. Dubbed “Arnold 2.0,” the plan entailed a rethinking of strategy.
The parent agency’s creative department was folded into four cross-disciplinary teams. Each includes creative staff, designers and members from the firm’s marketing and interactive divisions.
For its part, the promotions shop now has its specialists sitting at the table with Arnold Worldwide’s project-management department. That prevents duplication of efforts, among other things.
“It really makes things a bit more modern,” says Michael Carey, senior vice president, director of brand promotions, Arnold Brand Promotions. “At the end of the day, it’s about fewer people touching projects, so there is a better quality of work and accountability.”
Another result of Arnold 2.0 is that the firm’s brand-planning department was rechristened the “Department of Human Nature.” The team includes anthropologists, psychologists and cognitive scientists.
Arnold worked wonders for Ocean Spray’s Bogs Across America tour, a repeat of a PR stunt conducted in 2005. The firm transported temporary bogs to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles during the harvest season. And Arnold Worldwide supported the campaign with TV spots.
The result: Ocean Spray’s Web site traffic spiked 12% last November, and the company received more than 24,000 cranberry recipe requests, a 133% increase from 2005. In addition, reps handed out 154,000 samples of juice and Craisins over nine days.
“They took our brand essence and they really made it come to life,” says Ken Romanzi, chief operating officer for Ocean Spray Domestic.
But that wasn’t the only sign of recovery. Arnold Brand Promotions won several new clients last fall, including Pearle Vision and Progressive Direct Insurance Co. The latter is a $200 million account. And the firm has signed two yet-to-be-named consumer package goods companies for this summer. “That’s got people believing again,” Hamlin says.
And the 40-plus person promotion agency is staffing up to handle the new business.
(In another change, Beth Rice, the former vice president and director, left last December to create her own marketing agency. McLaughlin and Carey now run the unit.)
One creative challenge was provided last year by McDonald’s: How to promote a new coffee offering at the expense of Dunkin’ Donuts. McDonald’s wanted to break the perception that the doughnut chain was the preferred place to go for a morning jolt in New England.
Arnold’s solution? Find a partner (Newman’s Own Green Mountain Coffee) and create a special blend to pique customers’ interests. The agency ran a 13-day sampling program, offering free coffee at 650 restaurants in several Northeastern states. The result? The company distributed more than 1 million cups of free coffee.
Better yet, McDonald’s saw a 8.6% rise in breakfast sales — including coffee. And traffic increased 9.1% over 2005.
Projects and clients like that keep Arnold going. “We have some really good momentum,” Hamlin says. “If you walk the halls today, you feel energy and the excitement. My responsibility is to keep that going.”
Network
