Engaging Change
When airline travelers discover certificates for frequent-flier miles on packs of Healthy Choice chicken Marsala frozen dinners this year, they can thank Gage Marketing Group for pulling strategy and execution under one tent. Gage produced the unique on-pack delivery of air miles from six carriers for ConAgra soon after absorbing the Mayer-Douglas Group.
New acquisition Mayer-Douglas developed the concept from statistics showing Healthy Choice eaters were avid fliers, and old hands at Gage helped make it work through their airline connections. The Minneapolis-based agency has run frequent-flier programs for years. Gage’s new marketing services partner, AHL Services, Inc., stepped in on fulfillment.
The full-service concept isn’t new to Gage, but the agency gave it new force this year when it raised $81 million by selling its Marketing Services back-office unit, a move that lowered net revenue to $99 million from $123 million last year.
“The nice thing about them is they are a one-stop shop. We go to them for creative, production, fulfillment, and evaluation,” says Nicco Mouleart, consumer promotion manager at Lawry’s Foods, Inc., Monrovia, CA, a client for 16 years.
Gage put together a first-quarter tie-in with 20th Century Fox’s direct-to-video release Our Friend Martin in which consumers buying Lawry’s Seasoned Salt and the video got a $2 rebate they could donate to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change. With an essay contest overlay, the effort produced “amazing results,” says Lawry’s general manager John Heil.
Gage realized about a year ago it would have to go outside to raise capital to stay competitive, says ceo E.C. “Skip” Gage, 58. Support services needed cash to keep up with the latest technology in areas like fulfillment and telemarketing, and Gage wanted to beef up its front-end client strategy capabilities.
So Gage sold a majority stake in its services division to AHL of Atlanta, but continues to manage it, enjoying “automatic and virtually seamless” access, says Gage.
Gage began spending the $81 million right away, buying Mayer-Douglas, a 12-year-old Minneapolis agency where Randy Mayer and crew were making names as agency of record for ConAgra as well Hunt & Wesson brands.
“I’ve been trying to buy Randy’s business since I was at Carlson,” says Gage, who worked at Carlson Cos. from 1968 until he formed the agency in 1992.
Mayer’s seven-person shop and $40 million in billings were folded into Gage’s Minneapolis marketing unit, enhancing the agency’s Midwest-based packaged goods expertise. Gage services Lawry’s from its Newport Beach, CA, office, and boasts Meredith Publishing and Alcoa Home Products as steady clients.
Gage then added Internet skills by taking a 40-percent stake in local Internet developer Imaginet, whose accounts include Goodyear and General Motors. The alliance created “the largest (software) engineering and design shop in the upper Midwest,” says Gage executive vp Tom Belle, 48.
Belle’s programmers were already meeting demand for online marketing solutions. Gage had developed an e-commerce home page for Kraft, and performs virtual spade work for Disney.com’s ongoing Magic Sweepstakes.
Gage is clearly bringing a broad-tent outlook to the business. Perhaps it derives from its skipper’s early Carlson days, when he used to juggle Gold Bond Stamps, Radisson Hotels, and TGIF restaurants.
Visit Gage’s Web site and you’ll be confronted by a grizzly bear. It’s a memento of a recent Western jaunt by the travel unit.
