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TV Or Not TV?
Dwarfed by NYC
and Boston, Connecticut ad agencies remain on
the periphery of television advertising
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Business New Haven
2/23/1998
By: Nick Raposo
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You've got a world-class product. Now it's time to think TV advertising.
What comes to mind? Madison Avenue, L.A., Chicago, Minneapolis?
Think again.
If New Haven, Waterbury, Avon and Stamford aren't on your short list, they should be.
What's it going to cost you? The American Association of Advertising Agencies pegs the average production price of a 30-second TV spot at $250,000. Budgets for ads featuring computer-generated images, like the talking lizards you saw during the Super Bowl, can run well over a million dollars for the same 30 seconds.
Too rich for your blood? Don't flip the page yet.
Says Will Bradford of Bradford Advertising & PR in New Haven, who does high quality TV spots for clients like the United Illuminating Co.: “Most people in Connecticut say, 'Look, I've got a lot of money for a commercial - I've got $100,000.' Well, $100,000 is not a lot of money for a world-class commercial.”
But he adds, for that amount, “You can look very, very professional, you can look very national.”
Okay, but can I do it in Connecticut? “Absolutely,” says Harry Viens, executive vice president at Mason & Madison of Bethany, an agency with around $35 million in annual billings that produces national and regional TV spots for clients.
“Without a shred of doubt,” chimes in Mike Watt of Sonalyst Studios of Waterford, a first-rate one-stop production facility that has already attracted such big shots as the K mart Penny Marshall/Rosie O'Donnell spots, SNET and Steven Spielberg. “There's nothing we can't shoot here. We have the most complete facility in New England.”
So why don't more ads get made here?
Says Watt: “The plain truth is, there isn't anything wrong with our side of the equation. We've got people with Clios, Emmys, Oscars...”
But, he adds, “[Producers] still have a good deal of gravitation toward New York and Boston, either through habit, or believing that their client will feel it can't be good enough if it's produced locally.”
This phenomenon of local low self-esteem, and budgets like those cited by Bradford, limit the growth of national-class agencies in Connecticut.
Michael Friend of Prime Communications, a former creative director at Mason & Madison, says of Mintz & Hoke, in Avon, which bills approximately $27 million a year in TV advertising of total billings of $65 million: “That's about as big as you can get in Connecticut. You just can't seem to break that $70 million threshold very easily.
“Every Connecticut agency wants to break out and be a big regional shop,” Friend adds. “And that's really tough to do in this market because you've got New York on one side, and Boston on
the other, so you've got some stiff
competition.”
But addressing the question of why Connecticut companies should choose an in-state agency over New York or Boston, Friend says: “It's the dream of every Connecticut agency to have a nice, big, well-known account. Let's say that account is $3 million. To a Connecticut agency that is a big account, and they're going to have [ad agency] principles very active in their business, they're going to get all the A-team account services and creatives.
“Whereas in New York,” Friend says, “a $3 million account is going to get all the new account managers and junior writers.”
That's just one reason many Connecticut agencies are getting new accounts from outside markets. Scandinavian Airlines left New York giant Gray Advertising for Mason & Madison; the Lifesavers division of RJR Nabisco recently tapped Stamford's North Castle Partners to campaign for several of its brands; and Olympic Paint & Stain, a Pennsylvania-based firm, moved from Young & Rubicam in New York to Mintz & Hoke.
Says Mintz & Hoke President Chris Knopf, asked why a company like Olympic would make such a change: “There are two reasons. We've developed expertise in certain categories of business. Olympic is hardware/building products. We understand the distribution, we understand the mind-sets of the customers in that arena, and we're very much up to speed with their needs. So [the client] can be anywhere. Olympic happens to be headquartered in Pittsburgh.”
Knopf also cites Mintz & Hoke's experience in the world of retailing, which he says lured big regional advertiser Ames to its roster.
“We've developed some strong capabilities in essentially building brand equity while building sales,” he says.
Clif McFeely, president of North Castle Partners, 60 percent of whose $60 million in annual billings is TV ad related, cites his agency's success with Ocean Spray as an attraction to new accounts.
“Ocean Spray came a long way with North Castle.” he says. Jon Iafeliece, with whom McFeely assumed management last year, created the high-profile “Crave the Wave” campaign. But the departure of Ocean Spray last year hasn't hurt business. In fact, since then, North Castle has attracted People's Bank; Goodmark Foods, makers of the Slim Jim snack food; and a new Planters product, among others.
So why did Ocean Spray, a Massachusetts company, leave? Says John Lawlor, spokesperson for Ocean Spray, “We needed a larger agency with larger resources.”
McFeely doesn't dispute that. Of Ocean Spray's desire to lure North Castle into a merger with much larger Arnold Advertising in Boston, he says: “We frankly wanted to be based here in Stamford, and not move to Boston. Call us crazy, but we believe in the concept of being an alternative to New York and living in Stamford. And so far, that is bearing fruit. Call me in another year.”
Big boys like General Electric and GTE, which spend literally billions of dollars each year on advertising, use BBD&O and Ogilvy & Mather, respectively, both huge New York agencies. Couldn't they go to a Connecticut agency and keep some of that wealth in-state?
Says Michael Friend: “If a Connecticut agency got a huge account - say there was a real coup and they picked up Pepsi - they would implode. Because they could not handle the volume of work.”
“It's not in our fiber to say we can't do something, but we have a responsibility to our existing clients,” says Knopf. “If we were to increase our billing by 50 percent suddenly, we could do that - but only if the client were really working with us.”
Responding to a hypothetical question, Knopf adds: “I know this sounds like shameless pandering to our clients, but the fact is, we've developed relationships with these people. They depend on us, they trust us - and suddenly our whole senior management and our top creatives are pulled off to work on IBM? I wouldn't like that.
“But now that I've said that,” he adds, “if IBM's interested, have 'em give me a call. We'll talk.”
In truth, nothing is stopping Connecticut agencies from doing whatever they want. “You're only local in your mind,” says Will Bradford.
“The way regional agencies garner large accounts is through creative reputation,” he adds. “They try to win a lot of creative awards, get a lot of creative attention. I'm not sure a lot of Connecticut agencies understand that. You don't get the attention of the big boys unless you do something creatively conspicuous.”
Bradford continues: “What drives the business is the quality of the creative, the creative thinking. You can get great creative anywhere. What has happened in places like San Francisco, Minneapolis, Venice, Calif., you've got some very creative people who've gone there and made those cities synonymous with great creative.
“My hope is, some day, people like me will be able to make New Haven synonymous with great creative,” concludes Bradford. “It hasn't been done yet, but that's what my aspiration is. We need to do that here.”
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