THE PROMO 100 — Top 25 Agencies 2001

1. DraftWorldwide, Inc.

633 North St. Clair Street, Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-944-3500
Fax: 312-944-3566
URL: www.draftworldwide.com
Ownership: Interpublic Group of Companies
CEO: Howard Draft
Key clients: American Express, Avis, Bass Hotels & Resorts, Brown-Foreman, Burger King, Coca-Cola Co., Compaq, Eli Lilly, Equal, HBO, Kellogg Co., Merck-Medco, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Ross Products, Sprint PCS, Verizon
At a Glance: Work with Kellogg’s (a major 1999 account win) kept the shop plenty busy and helped push revenues up 36 percent to $324.3 million in 2000, sending Draft up a notch to reclaim the No. 1 spot on the list. The agency’s acquisition strategy continued with the addition of event marketer Group III Promotions and youth marketer Sloan Group; sister unit Columbian Advertising’s promo practice was also added to the fold. Lost the U.S. Postal Service direct account to FCB last summer despite several years of award-winning work. Tapped as promotion AOR for Burger King in early 2001, scoring a surprise win in one of the most hotly contested reviews in years.

2. GMR Marketing
2725 S. Moorland Road, New Berlin, WI 53151
Phone: 262-786-5600
Fax: 262-786-0697
URL: www.gmrmarketing.com
Ownership: Omnicom
CEO: Gary Reynolds
Key clients: Coleman Co., Conseco Financial Services, GoodMark Foods, Jim Beam Brands, Mercedes Benz, Microsoft Corp., Miller Brewing Co., Visa USA, Wm. Wrigley Jr.
At a Glance: Gary M. Reynolds and company were known as the mobile marketing experts long before it became all the marketing rage, so they were in perfect position to reap rewards from the strategy’s recent surge in popularity: Revenues jumped 72 percent and billings 65 percent in 2000. The new client list reads like the front page of The Wall Street Journal: Microsoft, Pepsi, Pfizer, and Visa USA – not that the existing client list of Jim Beam Brands, Miller Brewing, Mercedes Benz, Wrigley’s, et al sounds like the funny papers, either. All that road time is opening a lot of doors these days. (See profile.)

3. Marketing Drive Worldwide
372 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897
Phone: 203-761-9125
Fax: 203-762-1719
URL: www.marketingdrive.com
Ownership: True North (Interpublic Group of Companies)
CEO: Mark Timbrell
Key clients: Visa, Intuit, Reckitt Benckiser, New World Pasta, Wavetel, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Kimberly-Clark, MilkPEP, Binney & Smith, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Colgate-Palmolive, Eastman Kodak, Kraft Foods, Lufthansa, Miramax Films
At a Glance: The marketing services division of True North – which became a marketing services unit of Interpublic this spring – more than doubled net revenues and billings in 2000 as its global integration concluded. Agency-of-record list boasts Visa, M&M/Mars, Pillsbury Co-Marketing, and some Unilever brands. Capabilities were bolstered with the acquisitions of Event Management & Promotions and Luxon Carra. Interpublic merger provides access to research, sports marketing, and a lot more clients. A management shakeup in early 2001 resulted in several departures and put British import Mark Timbrell firmly in charge.

4. Flair Communications Agency
214 W Erie Street, Chicago, IL 60610
Phone: 312-943-5959
Fax: 312-943-0881
URL: www.flairpromo.com
Ownership: Independent
CEO: Lee Flaherty
Key clients: ConAgra Foods, Dole Foods Co., Dole Fresh Vegetables, Brown & Williamson Tobacco, California Milk Advisory Board, Clover Leaf Foods International, Dairy Farmers of America, Dean Foods Co., S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Saputo Cheese USA, SBC Enterprises/Ameritech
At a Glance: One of the industry’s last surviving independents kept chugging along in 2000, with revenues climbing 25 percent and billings rising 42 percent (although promo is still wondering why the shop reported revenues of only $41 million to Advertising Age). Billings were helped by the ConAgra account, which came in ’99 but fully kicked in last year. A massive campaign for Dunkin’ Donuts’ 50th birthday earned awards (although the chain is now using another agency). Flair proved itself to be the king of hype by riding a cow statue from a 1999 effort for Dairy Farmers of America to industry awards in 2000 and 2001.

5. Momentum
6665 Delmar Boulevard, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 66130
Phone: 314-721-4100
Fax: 314-721-4222
URL: www.momentum-na.com
CEO: Mark Shapiro
Ownership: McCann-Erickson (Interpublic)
Key clients: American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Boise Cascade Office Products, Brown-Forman Beverages, Coca-Cola, Gateway, General Motors, Gillette Co., Microsoft, Nortel Networks, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Best Buy, Clorox Co.
At a Glance: No other agency’s showcase is better stocked than Momentum’s: five Reggies in spring 2000, four PRO Awards and a Globe last fall, another Reggie in March 2001. Now, it adds Agency of the Year honors to the list, thanks to strategic and creative excellence that not only wins awards, but wins the praises of both clients and competitors. A deepening relationship with parent McCann-Erickson has helped the former Louis London to expand its network and client base. Wins in 2000 included Gillette, Nortel Networks, Qwest Communications, Best Buy, Clorox, Kohl’s, and Honeywell. The portfolio was already blue-chip enough: Coke, American Express, Anheuser-Busch, General Motors, and Microsoft. (See Agency of the Year.)

6. 141 Communicator
54 W. Hubbard, Chicago, IL 60610
Phone: 312-527-3900
Fax: 312-527-3327
URL: www.communicatorww.com
Ownership: Cordiant Communications
CEO: Jay Farrell
Key clients: Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Jim Beam Brands, Kraft Foods, Microsoft, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, S.C. Johnson, Unilever, Allied Domecq, AT&T, Hyundai, Keebler Foods, Moet & Chandon, Parmalet, Sun Maid, British America Tobacco
At a Glance: The development of a $22 million network in the U.S. is only a small part of the story: the erstwhile Davidson Marketing is now the American hub of a $145.9 million global agency with offices in some unlikely places: Riga, Dubai, Calcutta, Johannesburg, and Phnom Penh. U.S. AOR relationships include Jim Beam Brands, Kraft Foods, Nabisco, and Dr Pepper/Seven Up (the last a new win in 2000). Also scored work from AT&T, Hyundai, and Unilever’s Helene Curtis. Aligned with 141 last August after parent Lighthouse Holdings was acquired by London-based Cordiant. (See profile.)

7. Einson Freeman, Inc.
61 S Paramus Road, Paramus, NJ 07652
Phone: 201-226-0300
Fax: 201-226-2999
URL: www.einsonfreeman.com
Ownership: WPP Group
CEO: Carl Nichols
Key clients: Reynolds Metals, Sears, Ameritrade, American Home Products, Becton-Dickinson, BMG Records, General Cigar, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Nestlé, Pfizer, Schering Plough, Glaxo SmithKline, Sony
At a Glance: Ageless Einson has turned in two solid years of revenue growth as WPP Group appointee Carl Nichols took the reins from long-time ceo Jeff McElnea. The shop picked up a Reggie by activating Sears’ Christina Aguilera tour sponsorship to great effect. EinsonHealth, a joint venture with WPP sister CommonHealth, put Glaxo SmithKline’s Lymerix on the road in lime-green Beetles. OnetoOne, a partnership with outside agency One21 Interactive, signed Motorola and Auto Nation as charter clients. Fate sometimes intervenes: An account-specific campaign for client IBM produced great results at the end of ’99 – right before Big Blue pulled the plug on all retail sales activity.

8. U.S. Marketing & Promotions
23456 Hawthorne Boulevard, Suite 300, Torrance, CA 90505
Phone: 310-373-9114
Fax: 310-372-9403
URL: www.usmpagency.com
Ownership: Omnicom
CEO: Jason Moskowitz
Key clients: Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola Co., Petopia, Harmony Foods
At a Glance: Last year’s No. 1 didn’t officially enter the promo 100 this year. New parent Omnicom, which acquired the sampling and field marketing shop last spring, reported a 15-percent drop in both revenues and billings for 2000. The decline isn’t surprising (although USM&P executives last June projected more huge gains), since net revenues skyrocketed in 1999 largely due to $50 million in business from a handful of Procter & Gamble brands; the shop handled massive tours for Dryel, Febreze, and Swiffer. Headcount has dropped 15 percent since the acquisition.

9. Aspen Marketing Group
11755 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: 310-231-9000
Fax: 310-231-9002
URL: www.aspen-marketing.com
Ownership: Private
CEO: Neal Vitale
Key clients: Grainger E-Business, Skyy Spirits
At a Glance: One of the industry’s main consolidators began 2000 with the acquisition of three promo 100 alumni – B-12, Creative Source International, and M3 Marketing – to expand its services network to a baker’s dozen and push total billings beyond $250 million. Assets are structured into four competency areas: promotion, direct, corporate identity, and interactive – the latter of which has gained the most prominence in the industry. Still getting the bulk of business from project work, with Skyy Spirits and Grainger E-Business the only AOR accounts. Did an about-face at the end of the year, announcing that it, too, would seek “strategic alternatives.”

10. Impiric
675 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010
Phone: 212-941-3000
Fax: 212-941-3551
URL: www.impiric.com
Ownership: Young & Rubicam (WPP Group)
CEO: Daniel Morel
Key clients: AT&T, Lincoln Mercury, Sara Lee, Whirlpool, Xerox, Cadbury Schweppes, Caterpillar, Cisco Systems, MasterCard, Mattel, Metropolitan Life, Microsoft, Monsanto,
Pharmacia & Upjohn, Philip Morris
At a Glance: In its first year under a new name, the former Wunderman Cato Johnson struggled to establish an identity in the marketplace – a task that was slowed when parent Young & Rubicam was acquired by London-based WPP Group. The transaction resulted in the departures of several top executives, including promotions president Neil Contess (who has not been replaced). Work highlights in 2000 included Lincoln’s heavily activated sponsorship of the U.S. Open. Showed off its online/offline synergies by mailing Ericsson prospects an interactive gamepiece that let them win prizes while watching TV spots during ABC’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

11. Noble & Associates
2155 W. Chesterfield Boulevard, Springfield, MO 65807
Phone: 417-875-5000
Fax: 417-875-5051
URL: www.noble.net
Ownership: Independent
CEO: Robert Noble
Key clients: The Iams Co., American Dairy Brands, Hickory Farms, Kellogg’s Foodservice, Keebler National Accounts, The Rawlings Co., Frito-Lay, Gerber Products, Tyson Foodservice, Reckitt Benckiser
At a Glance: Noble vaulted into the elite ranks of the PROMO 100 on net revenues that nearly tripled to $8.1 million over two years and which more than doubled in 2000. (The agency ranked No. 67 last year.) Keeping brands closely connected to national accounts and the food service industry is this shop’s specialty, and with such blue-chip clients as Kellogg, Keebler, Frito-Lay, Gerber, Tyson, Borden, Iams, and Reckitt Benckiser on the roster, Noble is apparently good at it. Growth in 2000 came primarily through additional work from existing clients; the shop still subsists heavily on project work. (See profile.)

12. CMI
1 Meadows Plaza, Suite 1501, East Rutherford, NJ 07030
Phone: 201-507-1122
Fax: 201-507-9085
URL: N/A
Ownership: SFX, Inc. (Clear Channel Communications)
CEO: David Paro
Key clients: CBS Television, Coca-Cola, Discovery Network/Animal Planet, Ford Motor, Genuity, Hershey Foods, Lowe’s, McDonald’s, RCN, Schering-Plough, Staples
At a Glance: Entertainment giant SFX, Inc. (September 2000 promo) put its marketing services ducks in a row this spring by uniting the former Contemporary Marketing, Inc. with its corporate consulting business and motorsports specialist Cotter Group. (CMI, meanwhile, got a boost in 2000 with the acquisition of event pros Heffernan Interactive.) The goal is to create a “lifestyle marketing” shop that stands on its own as a brand partner – but can also assist the numerous marketers sponsoring parent SFX’s music and sports properties activate their packages.

13. Promotions.com
450 West 33rd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212-971-9800
Fax: 212-971-9871
URL: www.promotions.com
Ownership: Public
CEO: Steven Krein
Key clients: Kraft Foods, NBCi, America Online, AT&T, Betty Crocker, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Digitas, Marlin Entertainment, Nortel Networks, Schering Plough, Universal Studios, Warner Bros.
At a Glance: The promo 100 success story of 1999 came crashing back to earth last year, as the backlash against dot-coms sent its stock price plummeting and forced the company to slash costs – including a 50-percent reduction in the work force. Things aren’t exactly looking up in 2001: First-quarter revenues declined 23 percent as consumer sweeps site Webstakes.com began to falter. On the other hand, the company’s core agency team has quietly built a $5 million business through behind-the-scenes work on campaigns for Kraft, Gillette, Certs, Dunkin’ Donuts and, this summer, Coca-Cola. Gaining ad and promo agencies as clients has helped company coffers, but kept the shop from gaining much recognition.

14. Frankel
111 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312-552-5000
Fax: 312-552-5400
URL: www.frankel.com
Ownership: Publicis SA
CEO: Jim Mack
Key clients: Frito-Lay, Nestlé, Target, Visa, McDonald’s, Tropicana, USPS
At a Glance: This old dog can definitely learn new tricks: TV spots for Frito-Lay, United Airlines, and Fleetwood Homes expanded the shop’s standard P-O-P work for those clients. Replay TV liked the shop’s in-store tape loop so much it was recut as a 30-second commercial. Frankel followed up Frito-Lay’s massive 1999 Star Wars campaign (a PRO Award winner last fall) with an equally huge Magic in the Bag effort. A country music sponsorship for Fleetwood and a Grinch tie-in for the U.S. Postal Service gained Reggie recognition this spring. USPS last summer retained Frankel for retail but otherwise revamped its agency portfolio.

15. Upshot
303 E Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312-943-0900
Fax: 312-943-9699
URL: www.upshot.net
Ownership: Ha-Lo Industries
CEO: John Kelley
Key clients: Discover, J.E. Seagram & Sons’ Absolut, Procter & Gamble, SBC Communications, Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Ceiva, Ford Motor Co., Microsoft, TAP Pharmaceuticals
At a Glance: promo’s 1999 Agency of the Year led a National Enquirer kind of life in 2000, as cash-strapped parent Ha-Lo sought to sell the agency and rumors abounded about major account losses. Still, Upshot got more work from Ford and P&G (winning a Reggie for the latter’s Jeckles launch) and scored its first work with Microsoft last year. While the sale of Seagram’s has that business up in the air, Upshot will remain AOR for the Absolut brand, says ceo John Kelley, who returned this spring after a year at Ha-Lo’s helm. As for a possible sale, Kelley says he doesn’t “see anything happening in 2001.”

16. Ryan Partnership
55 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06880
Phone: 203-226-3136
Fax: 203-222-9544
URL: www.ryanpartnership.com
Ownership: Independent
CEO: David Ryan
Key clients: G.E. Capital, Gevalia, Heineken USA/Canada, J&J Merck, Kraft Foods, LifeSavers Co., MasterCard, Mattel Canada, Mott’s, Nabisco, Perrier Group of America, Pillsbury, Bordon Foods, Butterball Turkey, General Mills, Heinz Foods, Kimberly-Clark, Newman’s Own, Nokia, Starwood Hotel & Resorts
At a Glance: Ryan jumped 11 spots in the rankings this year as net revenues climbed 47 percent over two years. While the shop has traditionally kept a low profile media-wise, it couldn’t be better-known in industry circles: Its list of blue-chip AOR clients include Bank One, G.E. Capital, Kraft, Heineken, MasterCard, Nabisco, Pillsbury, and Unilever. Ventures into ethnic marketing, direct, and research have moved the shop well beyond its CPG roots, although the recent launch of a separate division for mass-merch activity shows its allegiance to the past – with a contemporary spin. Earned a Reggie for a cause co-marketing effort for Pillsbury and Albertson’s. (See profile).

17. Colangelo Synergy Marketing, Inc.
28 Thorndall Circle, Suite 300, Darien, CT 06820
Phone: 203-662-6600
Fax: 203-662-6601
URL: www.colangelo-sm.com
Ownership: Independent
CEO: Robert Colangelo
Key clients: UDV/Guinness, Kraft Foods, Spalding Sports Worldwide, Clorox Co., Disney Vacation Club, Kemper Financial Insurance Solutions, Pepperidge Farm, Unilever Home & Personal Care, Perrier, IBM, Topps Co., Black Entertainment Television, Lea & Perrins
At a Glance: New account wins as well as additional work from such clients as Guinness and Kraft have helped Colangelo more than triple net revenues since 1998. The company’s integration strategy features promotion, branding, P-O-P, packaging, direct marketing, and just about anything else clients want. As comfortable with trade promotion as it is with consumer campaigns, the shop works with Kraft to enhance relations with accounts, and helped Guinness launch a paid loyalty club this spring. Chief marketing officer Jim Petzing, whose Synergy Group merged with Colangelo in 1998, left last winter to pursue his corporate training business full-time. (See profile).

18. Equity Marketing, Inc.
6330 San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: 323-932-4300
Fax: 323-932-4400
URL: www.equity-marketing.com
Ownership: Public
CEO: Donald Kurz
Key clients: Burger King, Coca-Cola, CVS, Exxon/Mobil, BP Amoco, Sunoco
At a Glance: Equity held onto its premium work with flagship client Burger King when the chain undertook a complete agency review this winter (although it had hoped to gain additional work as well). It later announced that BK’s strategic changes would result in a 30-percent drop in 2001 revenues from the business, which accounted for 80 percent of the company’s total in ’99 and 2000. Hired industry veteran Alan Perper away from Simon Marketing in early 2001 to head up business development and help move the company beyond premium manufacturing; three unidentified clients were added earlier this year. Recently named master toy licensee for Warner Bros. 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo release.

19. Integer Group
500 Golden Ridge Road, Suite 100, Golden, CO 80401
Phone: 720-497-8026
Fax: 720-497-8080
URL: www.integer.com
Ownership: Omnicom
CEO: Ron Askew
Key clients: ATT Broadband, Cingular, Cinnabon, Coors Brewing Co., Dreyfus
Brokerage Services, Firestone Agricultural Tires, Kay Jewelers, Maytag, McDonald’s, Molson, Nokia, Pearle Vision,
Procter & Gamble, 7-Eleven
At a Glance: Integer’s size now belies the fact that it still acts like a regional shop – albeit a regional shop with 873 employees in 19 offices across the U.S. The agency’s 50-percent revenue growth in the last two years came mostly from new wins, including Corporate Express, Molson Beer, and Quest Diagnostics. Although promotion work brings in the bulk of revenues, Integer’s accounts usually span various disciplines – a tack it took to keep pace with flagship client Coors (from which it spun out in 1993). The shop’s profile could increase dramatically in 2001 as it helps Coke execute the Harry Potter tie-in. (See profile.)

20. Jack Nadel, Inc.
9950 Jefferson Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Phone: 310-815-2600
Fax: 310-836-9695
URL: www.jacknadelinc.com
Ownership: Independent
CEO: Martin Nadel
Key clients: Bank of America, Boise Cascade, Charles Schwab, The Gap, General Mills, Lucent Technologies, Intel
At a Glance: Forty-eight-year-old Jack Nadel is a throwback to the old days of promotion, when tactical expertise was an agency’s M.O. In this case, it’s premiums, which account for 80 percent of the company’s revenues. (Creative fees represent five percent.) The shop bills itself as a “direct response promotion agency,” combining the creativity of direct with the innovation of sales promotion. Another vestige of the past: Nadel’s revenues come completely from project work – not that that’s overly important to a shop whose lengthy list of blue-chip clients includes Bank of America, Paine Webber, The Gap, General Mills, Morgan Stanley, Nextel Communications, Southwest Airlines, Time Warner, Nordstrom, and Merrill Lynch.

21. Hawkeye Communications
551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1501, New York, NY 10176
Phone: 212-763-0200
Fax: 212-763-0126
URL: www.hawkeyeww.com
Ownership: Private
CEO: G. Steven Dapper
Key clients: Procter & Gamble, Walt Disney Co., Payless, Toshiba, Blockbuster
At a Glance: Who are these guys? They’re Marketing Continuum, and Cohesion, and DPS Creative, and Mosaic Marketing, and Triplefin, and a handful of other marketing services companies that former Rapp Collins and WCJ executive Steven Dapper has acquired or started up in the last two years. Capabilities include promotion, direct response, business-to-business, interactive, and telecommunications.

22. Promotion Group Central
444 N. Orleans Street, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60610
Phone: 312-467-1300
Fax: 312-467-1311
URL: www.promogroup.com
Ownership: Independent
CEO: Kelly Drumm
Key clients: JVC, RadioShack, Weblink
At a Glance: The smallest shop (18 full-time employees) to break this year’s top 25, Promotion Group Central’s revenues have tripled since 1998, sending it to the top of the rankings in just its second year on the promo 100. (It was No. 60 in 2000.) Capabilities include sweepstakes, contests, games, couponing, gifts-with-purchase, special events, trade incentives, and employee programs.

23. The Zipatoni Co.
555 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63101
Phone: 314-231-2400
Fax: 314-345-4321
URL: www.zipatoni.com
Ownership: Independent (Interpublic: 49%)
CEO: Jim Holbrook
Key clients: Miller Brewing, Bacardi, Motorola, Energizer, Kinko’s, Campbell Soup Co., Edy’s/Dreyer’s
At a Glance: Managed growth is what Zip promised (June 2000 promo), and that’s exactly what it delivered in 2000: a solid 27-percent rise in net revenues and a 32-percent hike in billings. Entered an industry awards program for the first time this spring and gained Reggie kudos for a pair of 2000 campaigns: the MTV-flavored launch of a teen-targeted Motorola cell phone and the upgrade of Miller’s annual Blind Date program. New clients include Iomega, Michelin, and Lego.

24. Bounty SCA Worldwide
550 W. Washington, Suite 1000, Chicago, IL 60661
Phone: 312-799-7000
Fax: 312-799-7100
URL: www.bountysca.com
Ownership: Havas Advertising
CEO: Steven Kaplan
Key clients: Hoechst Marion Roussel, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, General Mills
At a Glance: The global sampling giant got a new owner last year when France’s Havas Advertising acquired parent Snyder Communications. The company’s specialty is delivering programs to targeted demographic groups. Joined with Sesame Street Productions, FujiFilm, and Photoworks.com to launch Thefirstday.com, a Web community targeted to new parents.

25. Marden-Kane
36 Maple Place, Manhasset, NY 11030
Phone: 516-365-3999
Fax: 516-365-5250
URL: www.mardenkane.com
Ownership: Independent
CEO: Gibby Kane
Key clients: Microsoft Corp., Smithsonian, 3Com Corp., Coldwell Banker, Colgate-Palmolive, Scholastic, Inc., Showtime
At a Glance: The sweepstakes boon both online and off has breathed some new life into 44-year-old Marden-Kane, which posted a 38-percent jump in net revenues in the last two years. The shop has been working to adapt its traditional expertise to the Internet, and earned 36 percent of its revenues in 2000 from online activity. Offline sweeps accounted for 40 percent.