Former Leo Burnett creative partners Jim Ferguson and Bob Shallcross have reunited to relaunch Dallas agency Krause Advertising as jimbobkrause.

The independent shop, whose other principals are Jim and Candace Krause, starts with a staff of about 10, an online project from Nike and a handful of clients from its days as Krause, including Alon USA. Their goal, simply put, is to hatch big ideas that prove to be effective.

Ferguson, a Texas native and former CCO at Young & Rubicam in New York, and Shallcross, a screenwriter and director of feature films who grew up in Chicago, talked to senior reporter Andrew McMains about starting up in an economic downturn, the best and worst parts of running a small independent shop, and why Cannes isn't what it used to be. The following are excerpts from the conversation.

What are you doing for Nike?
Ferguson: We're going to do some online stuff. It hasn't come to fruition yet. We were going to follow a six-man football team to a state championship. What we're going to do now is go visit the two towns [they represent] the week before the state championship game and do some video for Nikefootball.com.

What are you going for with the name of the agency?
Shallcross: To me, it just felt fresh or approachable; friendly.
Ferguson: Also, Krause has been a fixture in Dallas for 29 years. We're joining up with Jimmy and it's not right for him to drop his 29 years in this business. ... I've always wanted my name on the door, so at least I've got my first name.

How did you hook up with Krause?
Ferguson: I've known Jimmy off and on -- not professionally, but socially. He's had Krause & Young [in Dallas] for a long time -- it's a very well-respected creative agency -- with Bob Young. I'd always thought, "Man, they did nice work over there." And then a friend of ours, Mike Rawlings, a former CEO of Tracey Locke when I was at DDB Dallas and [ex-] president of Pizza Hut, he said, "You know what? You and Jimmy would be a good team. He's an incredible account guy, local businessman, very well respected in Dallas, knows everything in town. You guys should really hook up."

Why Dallas?
Shallcross: When we started talking, I didn't really think about Dallas much. But as things progressed, and when I met Jim Krause and started talking to him, [I began to think] there's a lot of opportunity here. ... It's a nice place to work. It's a nice place to live.

Jim, why not stay a freelance writer, which you've been the last couple of years?
Ferguson: I want to build something that will last ... something that could eventually be a big entity that I can leave behind. I'm not getting greedy and saying, "Yeah, so we can build it and sell," because I've worked at a public company. The last thing I'd want to do is saddle someone with something like that. I love Stan Richards' thing of being independent. ... The man has made some great choices.

What's your elevator pitch?
Ferguson: There was a great ad done a few years ago for Bud Lite. It [features] a baseball pitcher who looks up in the stands and says, "You know what? At the beginning of the season, they were looking at the kids. Now they're looking for help." And I really believe that. There are people out there right now in this financial situation who are looking for help. We call our philosophy market-driven creative. Our creative has worked. We can show you 20, 30, 40 different ads and ideas that have built business and have worked. Bob and I and Krause can look at an idea and really know if it's going to work.



How long have you two known each other and when was the last time you worked together?
Ferguson: We worked together from '85 to '93 at Leo Burnett [in Chicago]. Then we took a leave to work on screenplays. We worked together in '93 and '94 on [writing] the movie [Little Giants].

Bob, what have you been doing since Burnett?
Shallcross: I had a commercial production company where I was directing commercials. I was really interested in writing a screenplay and then in directing a feature. I was able to raise some funds and direct a couple of small independent films. It was great on lots of levels because I like telling stories. But I've always liked advertising and marketing. Jim and I are both strategic thinkers; we like to think about the big picture. And we definitely try to keep up with what's going on in the world, how it's changing. We learn from our kids. I have four, ranging in age from 27 to 18. I know it sounds clichéd, but even though the world has gotten media-centric and it's about where [content is] getting out, how it's getting out, the different ways it's getting out, it still comes down to a great idea. And I believe we're pretty good at coming up with and recognizing big ideas.

What did you learn from filmmaking?
Shallcross: From a writing standpoint, you really understand the development of characters, telling stories and how you tell stories. I've always loved trying to tell visual stories.
Ferguson: That's important because of the Internet and the way people are going to online entertainment. Telling stories in two to four minutes will be even more important than 30-second ads.

Jim, what did you learn from working at bigger agencies?
Ferguson: Those places to me are advertising factories. It's fun to get back to the thing I got into the business to do, which is to create things. I was spending most of my time discussing how much money we spent on foam core the month before. What did I learn? I learned how to manage people. You know, right now, we have five people in the creative department. At one time I may have had five assistants working for me at Y&R.

What's the best part of it now, the intimacy?
Ferguson: You know what's the best part in the world? When I pick up my Rolodex and I start dialing for dollars, they're my dollars instead of some big corporation's. And how we make that money and how we'll take care of people will be our decision.

What's the worst part of it?
Ferguson: Having to make my own coffee in the morning. And learning how to mail something.

You returned to Cannes this year after a year away. What stood out?
Ferguson: That people went looking for Robert Greenberg and not Jeff Goodby. It's all about digital and digital entertainment. There's a big difference between the first show I went to and the last. I remember when there were two shows, one on Friday night and one on Saturday night. Now they're trying to [wedge in] so many shows and awards, they'll probably have them at breakfast time next year. There would probably be an award for best matchbook cover if they could figure out how to get people to enter it.

Do they need to break it up?
Ferguson: They're going to have to do something. But why would they? They're making a fortune. [Also], I'm going to get into trouble, but I'm going to say it anyway: They're all in [client] meetings. It's not a festival anymore. We went there to enjoy creativity and we talked about it, embraced it and loved it. We got into some great discussions on the Terrace, on the dock in the Carlton and in the Gutter Bar.

How do you feel about starting an agency in the midst of an economic downturn?
Shallcross: In times like this, good [clients] want to spend their money in the right way. They want to be really smart about how they do it. They're going [to want] people who are proven. And I think we deliver that. When you're doing any type of feature [film], you quickly learn ways to do things differently, to do things better, to get costs down, to deliver a product that is right for the idea and makes sense for what you're trying to do. ... People are going to start to be held accountable -- more so than they have in the past, which is good. When that happens, I think people are going to find Jim and I to be a good solution.



What agencies do you admire?
Ferguson: People who have built great places. I always look at Goodby. The wonderful thing that those guys continue to do is when you think they're going to fall off the face of the earth -- they had a rough time two or three years ago -- they come back with a billion dollars in new business. And the work is good.

Who's doing the worst work?
Ferguson: Anybody in the car business.
Shallcross: I agree. When you look at what's going on out there, there are a lot of clients wasting their money. And it's not necessarily the agency's fault. It may be the client's because they have their own way, they're not buying the best work or they're destroying the good ideas before they're finished.

What will you look for in the people you hire?
Shallcross: People who can multi-task, and who first and foremost can think. People that like thinking about things and who ask a lot of questions. I've always asked a lot of questions. I like people who ask, "What if?" ... and are thinking long term. I'm not interested in people who are [reactive]. I don't want to react to what's going on; I want to change what's going on.

Any other thoughts?
Ferguson: This is an exciting time because of the [direction in which] media is going. It's an exciting time because of the way clients are approaching their business. Agencies -- the big boys, the multinationals -- are scrambling. It's the time for maybe the Davids to come in with their slingshots and take out the Goliaths. That's been happening more and more the last few years. I keep coming back to one thing: They were looking at the kids; now they're looking for help.