Brad Nierenberg got tired of being mistaken for someone else. So this month, the president of Momentum Marketing ditches the name he’s built for 10 years and adopts a new moniker: Red Peg.
That leaves just 21 marketing agencies named Momentum to compete with Big Mo, IPG’s Momentum Worldwide.
“When you have to go into a pitch and explain that you’re not that other agency, it’s a bad place to start,” says Nierenberg. “Plus, we’ve had occasions where we didn’t get credit for our work.”
The event-marketing shop boasts 2003 net revenue of $4.3 million — and clients including AOL, Dunkin’ Donuts, Miller Brewing Co. (Icehouse) and Geico. With a field staff of about 500, “there are so many of our people out there touching consumers that we want everyone to know that they’re Red Peg people,” he says. “We have a great reputation for treating field staff well. We should get the credit for it.”
At least three promotion agencies have changed names in the last year, from slight tweaks (J. Brown/LMC Group to The J. Brown Agency) to delicate balancing acts (execs at Frankel, part of Arc Worldwide, carry two business cards to accommodate both names) to complete rewrites (ThompsonMurray is now Saatchi & Saatchi X). The trick is taking your reputation with you.
Red Peg touts its new name with e-mail and direct mail to current and prospective clients over several months, and a Web site launching Feb. 1. “We handle a lot of technology in-house, so we’ll use the same tools we have for clients to build our own brand,” says Nierenberg, who credits Director of Marketing Liz DiLullo with spearheading the two-year process to come up with a new name.
Fans of the board game Battleship know the red pegs are used for direct hits on opponents’ ships. “It stands for strategy, precision and impact,” Nierenberg says. “To hit the right consumer in the right place with the right interaction or message? That’s a direct hit.”
Nierenberg unveiled the name and logo at a three-day retreat for the shop’s 65 full-time staff. Twelve teams were each given a mysterious 2 foot-square paint-by-number canvas to complete; the finished squares came together to form the logo. (The artwork now hangs in Red Peg’s Alexandria, VA, headquarters.)
The agency formerly (and informally) known as Little Mo ranked No. 43 in the 2004 PROMO 100, with 2003 net revenues of $4.3 million (up 41% from 2001). Big Mo — Momentum Worldwide — ranked No. 9 with estimated 2003 net revenues of $60.5 million, up about 9% from 2001.
“We’ve been using the name ‘Momentum’ for more than a decade and we’re proud of the work we do, of our people, and of our name,” says Momentum Worldwide CFO Simon Marlowe.
Fayetteville, AR-based ThompsonMurray switched to Saatchi & Saatchi X in June 2004 when Saatchi parent Publicis bought the retail-marketing shop. “It was hard to let go of the ThompsonMurray name because of its equity, [but Saatchi’s name is so strong that] we didn’t really have a major loss of equity through the transaction,” says CEO Andy Murray.
Saatchi brass considered easing into the change, but opted to shift names immediately with the purchase. “Changing the name all at once allowed us to answer questions and explain our new position,” says Murray, who recommends that name-switchers hire a strong p.r. firm to handle positioning.
Murray toughest audience was his staff, long known as TMers. “We had to invent a new language,” he says. “Old habits die hard.”
Arc Worldwide’s Global CEO Nick Brien hopes to retrain most of Frankel’s staff and clients by year end.
“Frankel will remain as a brand name, but the center of gravity must move to [the name] Arc Worldwide, as it is around the world,” Brien says. “I inherited a number of very powerful brand names worldwide, and they’re all evolving to the Arc Worldwide name — without discarding the equity of a name like Frankel.”
Consolidation among other businesses makes it easier for staff and clients to adapt, Brien argues. “We live in a consolidating world — banks, airlines — so we’re used to it. The key is giving clients people on their business that make them comfortable.”
Help Wanted
Promo shops are hiring across the U.S.
Business is looking up for some agencies already this year, with a handful of promo shops on hiring sprees.
PowerPact (No. 5 on the 2004 PROMO 100) plans to add 10 to 12 jobs to its creative staff (now 21) with additions in its Richmond, VA, headquarters and its New York office. Business grew about 50% in 2004, and the agency is hiring “as we see the pipeline continue to fill” with RFPs and reviews, says CMO Scott Page. The agency employs 70 overall.
Colangelo Synergy Marketing expects to boost its staff 20% to 25% this year, mostly in strategic consulting; branding and packaging; trade promo and business-to-business; and interactive. The Darien, CT-based agency (No. 14 on the 2004 PROMO 100) has added senior staff in the last two years and now plans more senior- and mid-level jobs, perhaps in its Chicago and San Francisco offices and the southern California office it will open this spring. Full staff is 125; the agency has had annual double-digit growth for 10 years. Recent growth has come primarily from current clients (especially Diageo) and new business — mostly referred by current clients.
Seismicom (No. 49 on the 2004 PROMO 100) has shifted its management and hired three staffers with plans to add at least four more in the coming months.
Chief Marketing Officer Bill Carmody moves to New York City to run that office and marshal new-business efforts on the East Coast, with plans to add staff this year.
Meanwhile, VP-Creative Director Chris Nelson takes charge of Seismicom’s Chicago office; he had been at Frankel, San Francisco. This is the first time Seismicom has placed a creative director outside its San Francisco headquarters, and the first time it has put a creative director in charge of an office.
An unusual deal between Seismicom and Chicago-based p.r. firm Edelman channels promotion work for all Edelman clients to Seismicom’s Chicago office, which add an account supervisor and account manager. The two agencies will split the cost of additional staff.
Seismicom’s events business shifts from Chicago to San Francisco under the direction of Account Supervisor Vince Belizario, who also oversees all sponsorship work.
In recent months, the shop hired Ellen Rothstein as account supervisor-retail, who comes to Seismicom from consumer electronics retailer Good Guys; and Clorox veteran Mary Barbato as account director-consumer packaged goods.
Saatchi & Saatchi X is hiring on all levels across creative, account services and planning for its Fayetteville, AR, headquarters and its offices in New York, Cincinnati and China. The agency plans to staff up over the next four months.
Design shop Object 9 (No. 94 on the 2004 PROMO 100) added Graphic Designers Scott Greci and Michael Kraxenberger in January, with plans to hire a copywriter, business development representative and a public relations coordinator for the Baton Rouge, LA-based agency.
— Betsy Spethmann
Network
