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GSD&M Idea City
May 27, 2009
GSD&M lands Ace Hardware account
Austin-based GSD&M Idea City was named national lead creative advertising agency for Ace Hardware.
GSD&M will handle the chain’s television, radio, print and online advertising.
Ace has 4,600 stores in the U.S. and more than 60 countries and annual revenues of $12 billion. The first GSD&M-created ads will appear early next year.
“GSD&M Idea City has a proven track record of helping clients elevate their brands and further differentiate them with consumers,” said John Surane, vice president of advertising and marketing for Ace.
This is GSD&M’s second big account win this month. BMW recently named the agency as its lead global creative agency, meaning GSD&M will create ads that will be seen around the world.
GSD&M has been the carmaker’s North American agency since 2007.
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May 14, 2009
GSD&M wins BMW worldwide ad account
GSD&M Idea City was named lead global agency for BMW, its first international account and it highest-profile new business win in years.
The German automaker chose the Austin ad agency to handle its North American advertising in 2005.
GSD&M spokesman John McGrath said the agency won the account after a competitive review against other agencies.
A new worldwide campaign, based on the theme of joy, will begin in Europe this summer and in the United States early next year.
“We are delighted to have an agency such as GSD&M Idea City with the potential to set further creative benchmarks with BMW global brand communications,” said Jan-Christian Koenders, BMW’s director of brand communication and group marketing services.
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May 11, 2009
GSD&M cuts jobs, paychecks
Austin-based GSD&M Idea City has cut 10 jobs and imposed across-the-board temporary pay cuts.
Mark Taylor, the advertising agency’s executive creative director, also has left the firm, spokesman John McGrath said.
McGrath said the job cuts were part of a reorganization that is realigning the agency around three business units.
On the pay cuts, he said: “We’re not immune to this economy, and while we’ve had recent successes, consumers have shut their wallets, and business budgets are getting trimmed a bit.”
McGrath would not disclose the sliding percentage scale of the cuts, but he said they were higher for higher-ranking employees.
“We’re hoping this is as short-term as possible. We’re trying to protect the jobs we know that we need,” he said.
The agency has about 500 employees.
Two years ago, it lost the AT&T media buying business, one of its biggest accounts, and cut jobs then.
In the past year, the agency has won five new accounts, including Popeye’s and Marshall’s, and won a renewal from the U.S. Air Force.
“We’re focused on keeping our house in order” during the downturn, McGrath said.
He said Taylor was a “great talent” who brought a fresh approach to the agency, but said GSD&M was looking for a different approach going forward.
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October 14, 2008
GSD&M Idea City scores a new client
Austin advertising agency GSD&M Idea City has scored a new client: Compass Bank.
GSD&M competed with three other agencies to win the account. The incumbent agency was Miami-based Crispin.
Compass Bank has hired GSD&M as their advertising agency of record for national creative duties. Compass is owned by Spain-based BBVA Group and has locations in Texas, Florida, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.
“GSD&M Idea City brings deep experience in connecting with customers and in helping energize and grow organizations,” said Mark Gibson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Compass, in a written statement.
GSD&M President and Chief Operating Officer Duff Stewart said in a written statement: “Compass is a well-positioned player in a challenging industry.”
Initial work on the account will break in 2009. Another agency handles media planning and buying duties.
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September 12, 2008
Two GSD&M clients put part of accounts up for review
Austin advertising agency GSD&M Idea City learned that two of its clients are putting their media planning and buying accounts up for review.
But the agency also learned it has made it into the final round for Home Depot’s estimated $600 million account. The competition is for the retailer’s creative and media buying business.
BMW of North American and John Deere, both of which have their media buying and creative accounts with GSD&M, are putting only the media buying portion up for review. Adweek is reporting the BMW account is estimated at $155 million in billings.
GSD&M spokeswoman Melanie Mahaffey said BMW’s decision was mandated by a three-year requirement to look at new agencies.
It’s not unheard of for an incumbent agency to keep an account after its been put up for review. GSD&M, for instance, has kept one of its longest-held clients, Southwest Airlines, through at least one review. (Southwest hasn’t had a review since the 1990s).
But, it lost longtime client Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2006 after the retailer put its account up for review.
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August 22, 2008
GSD&M Idea City picks up media buying and planning for Popeyes
GSD&M Idea City has picked up media planning and buying duties for Popeyes, an account estimated at $40 million to $50 million.
The agency had already won national creative duties for the fast-food chain.
Previously, Popeyes spread its media planning and buying over several regional agencies, GSD&M spokeswoman Melanie Mahaffey said. Now, Popeyes has consolidated all of its media buying into one agency — GSD&M.
“We’re proud to be their partner in growing their business and we’re honored they’ve entrusted us with these expanded responsibilities,” said Duff Stewart, the president and chief operating officer of GSD&M Idea City.
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August 15, 2008
New hire at GSD&M Idea City leaves agency
AdAge is reporting that new hire Tony Rogers has already left GSD&M Idea City. In July, we wrote about him taking the job to lead the agency’s efforts to build its client roster.
Rogers returned to work at Wal-Mart, which is where he was before being hired at GSD&M, the agency confirmed. “We wish him well,” said GSD&M spokeswoman Melanie Mahaffey.
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July 10, 2008
GSD&M Idea City aims to make BMW more attractive to younger buyers
So this isn’t exactly breaking news, but I just returned from a luncheon with GSD&M Idea City Account Supervisor Travis Scoggins at the Statesman, in which he talked about The Ramp. It’s an intriguing under-the-radar campaign the agency developed last year.
So what is The Ramp, you might ask?
It’s a “mockumentary” about a Bavarian town that is building a large ramp, so large that it might launch, say, a BMW all the way to America.
The trailer Scoggins showed us on YouTube (see above) was pretty funny and filled with some stereotypical images of Bavarian townspeople.
The 35-minute video was actually launched in February, complete with faux profiles of the “director” and others involved in the making of this “movie.”
Very little of the BMW 1-series, which is aimed more toward younger buyers, is seen in the video, Scoggins said. This viral campaign is also on YouTube and has received write-ups in car blogs, he said. The entire budget for this campaign was less than a 30-second television spot, Scoggins said. This is in part because television spots can require pricey media buys and this “movie” was only put on free sites.
Spokeswoman Melanie Mahaffey said GSD&M had to deny for months that they had developed the video. Only in June did the agency and BMW finally come clean.
Check out the Facebook page and let me know what you think.
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May 30, 2008
GSD&M launches Southwest campaign that touts its no nickel-and-diming policy
Taking advantage of the recent spate of news about airlines adding fees for things like checked bags and snacks, Southwest Airlines Co. has decided to re-run a series of television commercials from 2007 that tout how they don’t nickel-and-dime customers.
This campaign, created by Austin-based GSD&M Idea City, comes along with new print and radio advertisements, illustrating the difference between Southwest and other airlines.
“The obvious difference is that Southwest is not adding any sort of fee to to ticket prices, not charging for checking bags, snacks, things like that,” GSD&M spokeswoman Melanie Mahaffey said. They will continue to offer peanuts and pretzels on most flights free of charge.
One of the television ads, which first ran in 2007, shows a customer inserting 25 cent coins to go to the bathroom or to lower his seat.
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May 6, 2008
GSD&M Idea City wins L.L. Bean account
Austin advertising agency GSD&M Idea City has won a new client: clothing retailer L.L. Bean.
A company spokesman said the agency found out today that it won the new account following a competitive review. Three other agencies were in the mix.
L.L. Bean is in the midst of expanding its retail stores and plans to open 32 new stores by 2012.
Adweek estimates that the account will be worth at least $30 million in billings. This was a competitive review for GSD&M and the first significant new client win since John Deere in June.
As readers have pointed out, GSD&M did keep current client U.S. Air Force following a competitive review earlier this year. The account was worth an estimated $372 million over 10 years.
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April 28, 2008
Adweek releases GSD&M Idea City report card
Adweek, an advertising trade publication, has released its annual report card of U.S. agencies.
GSD&M Idea City didn’t do so well this year. They got a D+ overall, which gave them one of the lowest rankings. The highest score of any agency was an A- and the lowest score was a D. Taken into account were the agency’s revenue and billings, its creative work and its management structure.
You can view the entire report card.
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April 21, 2008
"Price Is Right" unhappy with GSD&M ad
The makers of popular television game show “The Price Is Right” have filed a lawsuit against Austin advertising agency GSD&M Idea City, and its client, Southwest Airlines Co.
The lawsuit (FYI link is a PDF) stems from a national advertising campaign that GSD&M produced for Southwest in which a man waiting to check in for a flight is asked by attendants to spin a wheel in an effort to win a prize. The prize is a seat on a large plane. The audience cheers. And a song similar to the “Price Is Right” theme plays.
This AdWeek article is even cited as evidence.
GSD&M spokesman John McGrath said the agency has no comment.
The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California, says that the GSD&M ad “is likely to cause confusion, deception and mistake among the consuming public as to the origin, sponsorship or association of Southwest’s goods and services for which defendants have misappropriated ‘The Price Is Right’ theme song and trade dress for advertising purposes.”
We asked intellectual property rights lawyer Peter Ayers for advice on this suit. Does FremantleMedia North America, the owners of “The Price Is Right,” have a case?
Ayers, a partner at the Austin office of McKool Smith, said “The Price Is Right” will have to prove that consumers watching the ad are confused, heading to the Southwest Web site, for instance, when they are interested in watching or participating in the television show.
“You have to look at the markets these two play in,” Ayers said. “The Price Is Right is clearly not in the transportation industry. And likewise, someone looking for a game show is not likely to end up on the Southwest Airlines Web site.”
The other issue is whether GSD&M has copied the “Price Is Right” theme song. Ayers said the case could hinge on how similar the two songs are.
“The question is whether the two works really are substantially similar,” Ayers said.
UPDATE: Thanks, Dave, for sending us a link of the ad in question. Click here to view it.
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