Easy Gardener Plants Jobe's At Richards

By Steve Krajewski





DALLAS–After an informal account review conducted last month, The Richards Group here has earned full-service advertising duties for Jobe’s Plant Spikes.





Jobe’s was acquired by Waco, Texas-based Easy Gardener in 1996. The brand was marketed heavily in the 1970s and 1980s, but has been inactive in recent years. There was no incumbent.





Annual billings were undisclosed, but sources said initial advertising expenditures are likely to be in the $1-2 million range.





A representative for The Richards Group said Easy Gardener executives had informal meetings with several undisclosed agencies before awarding the business.





Easy Gardener president Dick Grandy and marketing manager Clemente Conde have been familiar with The Richards Group’s work for several years, according to a company representative.





Conde said The Richards Group’s creative reputation was one of the deciding factors.





Conde described Jobe’s as a ‘popular product with terrific potential and virtually no competition’ in the marketplace.