No. 1 Cable Co. Comcast Tunes Into Agency Search

Comcast Cable, looking to evolve with the changing needs of its business and beat back competition from satellite-TV providers such as DirectTV, has met with 8-9 agencies to discuss creative duties on its brand, sources said last week.Comcast is expected to narrow its search to 3-4 agencies, possibly as early as this week, said one executive. The Philadelphia-based unit of Comcast Corp. spent nearly $120 million in measured media last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, but the "vast majority" of that covered local and regional efforts, which are not part of the review, said another source.Still, the No. 1 cable company in the U.S. is seeking more than just traditional advertising, which means the account could entail direct marketing, interactive or other below-the-line tasks."We're looking for an integrated agency that is going to be able to work with us to meet the changing needs of our business," said a Comcast representative, who confirmed the search.Comcast's lead creative agency is Red Tettemer, an independent shop in Philadelphia. Red Tettemer is not participating in the process but continues to work on the brand, the rep said. "We would expect to use them for projects" after the review is concluded, which is expected by year's end, the rep added. Red Tettemer declined comment.The business in review is limited to cable-related offerings (such as basic, digital and high-definition cable), on-demand programming and high-speed Internet access, aka broadband, the rep said. Media duties, handled in-house and by various local shops, are not in play, according to the rep.Comcast, with 21.9 million subscribers, is well ahead of No. 2 Time Warner Cable, which claims 10.9 million subscribers, according to Hoovers.com. Comcast's key markets include Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Seattle and Nashville, Tenn.Besides Red Tettemer, the company uses a handful of other shops for creative tasks for its various divisions. The Tucker Partnership in New York, for example, creates ads featuring photos of media buyers from 25 years ago for Comcast Spotlight, the company's ad-sales division. Comcast's digital-phone division uses The Richards Group in Dallas, and cable-division ads for the Southeast region come from Atlanta shop Sawyer Riley Compton.Those units are relatively autonomous, and those agency relationships will continue regardless of the review's outcome, said sources.One source described the initial round of agency meetings, which took place two weeks ago, as a very broad, fact-finding mission.Among the executives at the meetings was Terrence Sweeney, who focuses on sales and distribution, said the source. Sweeney declined comment when reached Friday afternoon.Comcast's broadband offering was bolstered by the 2002 acquisition of AT&T Broadband. This year, Comcast also made a bold bid to take over Disney for $54 billion in stock. But Comcast withdrew its offer after Disney refused to bite.More recently, Comcast became a partner in a Sony-led consortium that is buying MGM, investing some $300 million in the deal.Besides cable services, Comcast offers programming via stakes in channels such as E! Entertainment, Outdoor Life Network, regional sports networks, Golf Channel, Style Network and G4TechTV.

Brand Marketing

No. 1 Cable Co. Comcast Tunes Into Agency Search

Deanna Zammit

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Deanna Zammit