Leo Drafts Outsiders for Army

Ethnic agencies in the Bcom3 network didn’t pass muster for Leo Burnett’s pitch to the U.S. Army.
Instead of using its Lapiz Hispanic unit and Vigilante, a shop specializing in African-American and urban marketing, Burnett partnered with Cartel Creativo in San Antonio and Images USA in Atlanta to win the Army’s $95 million contract over finalist Campbell-Ewald Advertising in Warren, Mich.
In doing so, the Chicago shop acknowledged that to work politically, an ethnic ad shop has to be minority-owned.
“We knew in working with the government the importance of partnering with minority-owned agencies,” Burnett chief executive officer Linda Wolf said.