Keiler & Company, a constant presence on the Connecticut advertising scene since 1973, closed its doors for the last time yesterday.
A brief message on the Farmington, Conn.-based shop’s voicemail said the agency had “ceased business operations as of August 6, 2015,” and efforts to reach chief executive Lynn Taylor and other senior staffers at the indie shop were not successful.
Founded 42 years ago, the agency grew into one of the state’s largest players, specializing in a communications services for a range of business-to-business and consumer clients. Aerospace ranked among Keiler’s specialties–and the loss of business in that sector appears to have precipitated its demise.
Sources in the Nutmeg State’s close-knit ad community said Keiler had struggled since the departure of the Lockheed Martin account slightly less than two years ago. LM, which at the time spent nearly $4 million in measured media, tapped Interpublic Group agencies McCann Erickson and UM for global advertising and media responsibilities. Since then, other business slipped away and the agency had been unable to replace revenue.
Keiler’s Web site still lists clients such as Deloitte, Verisk and Dassault Falcon, and the agency updated its Facebook page as recently as three weeks ago (an area bear apparently made repeated visits to its office this summer). On its LinkedIn page, Keiler said it most recently employed between 11 and 50 staffers. That number would be a steep slide from the approximately 100 professionals the agency employed during its heyday roughly a decade ago. (Annual revenue at its apex was likely between $10 million and $20 million, based on company listings through the years.)
In an ironic twist, the agency had become best known of late for its ad-biz-centric @KeilerGhost Twitter feed. The entries were purportedly penned by the ghost of a sea captain (or possible a shoemaker or wheelwright) said to haunt the agency’s 18th-Century farmhouse offices. The snarky feed served as a self-promotional for the agency, and won Best of Show honors at last year’s Ad Club of Connecticut’s 60th Annual Award Show.
@KeilerGhost had gone eerily silent in recent months until sending this tweet yesterday:
Keller gives up the Ghost. Literally.
— Keiler Ghost (@KeilerGhost) August 6, 2015
Adweek’s David Gianatasio contributed to this post.