Back in 1967 you could pull into an ESSO gas station and, with a fill-up from the attendant, get a scratch-off game card that reminded you to “Put a Tiger in Your Tank.”
Winning mostly cash prizes was the fun of it all and began to replace the station’s more costly premiums like tumblers and sets of dishes that took up lots of storage space and rang up substantial shipping and handling costs.
“It was an exciting time,” says president and owner Gibby Kane, who stepped in to run the business after her husband’s death in 1987. “[The promotion] drew a lot of attention.”
Marden-Kane takes credit for innovating that game and others that followed, like the automatic entry sweepstakes that turned the ordinary coupon into an entry device for a sweeps promotion and increased redemption rates. “These devices have been around for so long, they have now become mainstream,” says Steve Caputo, senior VP-general manager.
The shop, and its 38 employees, continues to seek out the unusual, looking ahead to tap wireless devices to reach consumers with Internet-based games, contests and other promotions. “We realize that it’s a hot button out there and we have the ability to accomplish it,” says Executive-VP Marc Wortsman.
The agency reported $21 million in revenue in 2002 and $34 million in billings. Clients like Campbell Soup, America Online and Kraft Foods North America look to the agency, close to reaching its fifth decade in business, to keep on innovating.
“Even though we’re 46 years old, we’re young in thinking,” Kane says.
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