Seattle-based Cole & Weber/Red Cell said it has hauled in five separate accounts in recent weeks. Total spending is expected to be more than $5 million through the remainder of the year, said agency president Mike Doherty.
The wins are alumni search Web site Classmates.com; Internet security company WatchGuard Technologies; Banfield, The Pet Hospital; Port of Portland; and an online project for Nestlé, said Doherty.
Each win followed a review, Doherty said. Combined annual billings are expected to be at least $10 million, he said.
“The business climate right now is somewhat tenuous,” said Doherty. “This says a lot about our business proposition. Clients need an agency that is not stuck in quicksand, that is integrated and can get in the trenches with them and be strategic about solving business problems.”
Being part of WPP’s global Red Cell network was “a pretty attractive proposition” to clients like Nestlé, Classmates.com and WatchGuard, all of which have a global presence, Doherty said.
Port of Portland, which owns and maintains five marine terminals, four airports and seven business parks, will be handled out of Cole & Weber’s Portland, Ore., office. Work will include newspaper, radio, TV, direct and possibly outdoor, as well as media planning, Doherty said.
The other accounts will be serviced from Seattle.
Work for crosstown client WatchGuard will include print, direct and online efforts. For Classmates.com, which has approximately 30 million members and is also based in Seattle, the agency will handle online and offline efforts and some events as the client expands beyond high school alumni, said Doherty. Portland-based Banfield, which operates more than 300 pet hospitals around the country, primarily inside Petsmart superstores, is initially looking for online efforts only, Doherty said.
The agency will not add staff as a result of the wins, Doherty said.
Founded in 1931, Cole & Weber has roughly 90 employees in its two offices. It has worked with clients such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, the Oregon Zoo, Tillamook Creamery and Umpqua Bank. It claimed 2001 billings of $137 million.
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