Souder Seeks Revival Of Tradition at Riney

Eight years after Hal Riney stepped back from day-to-day operations and a year after his official retirement, the creative legacy at Publicis & Hal Riney falls to Kirk Souder, who is vowing to restore tradition to the bruised San Francisco shop. Souder, 41, last week was named president and executive creative director of the 18-year-old agency. He starts April 14. Souder, co-founder and former creative partner of independent Ground Zero in Marina del Rey, Calif., returns to advertising after taking two years off to spend time with his wife and young son. "The face of this company and the leadership of this company has always been a creative guy," said Scott Marshall, who has been the agency's president for seven years and now becomes CEO. "It's always been my objective to find a creative guy to be president. As long as Hal was here, it was not as urgent." Riney retired as chairman and CEO last May, becoming chairman emeritus. Marshall said he had been seeking to fill the void for 18 months. The last person in the role of ecd was John Doyle, who left in 2000. The agency has struggled in recent years with the dismal Bay Area economy and the loss of its marquee account, the $240 million Saturn business, which landed at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners early last year after a review. Riney's billings now stand at $640 million. Souder said the opportunity to lead the shop was "too rare to pass up." He said his goal is to "treat Publicis & Hal Riney like any great brand and make sure it knows why it is great. Essentially I want to develop a communication program that rediscovers what makes the organization as famous as it is and celebrate that." Souder co-founded Ground Zero with Court Crandall and Jim Smith in 1993. The shop has won numerous honors, including Best of Show at the 1999 Belding Awards for ESPN2's "Knowledge" campaign and a bronze Lion at Cannes in 2001 for ESPN's "October is different" work for the baseball playoffs. In 2001, Souder and Crandall shared the Los Angeles Advertising Agencies Association's Creative Leader of the Year award. Former colleagues called Souder a savvy leader with strong opinions and a keen eye for talent. "Nobody is more passionate about doing things that haven't been done," said former Ground Zero media director Charles Labiner, now director of offline advertising for CarsDirect.com in Culver City, Calif."I would expect him to raise the calibre of the work [at Riney]," said Crandall. "Hal Riney is one of those very few agencies that had a really strong brand for most of its existence. It's lost some of that as of late, but he will either help them recapture it or redefine it." Now that Souder has joined a rival shop, Crandall said he will challenge him to a foosball rematch in Marina del Rey. "He'll still lose," Souder said.

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Souder Seeks Revival Of Tradition at Riney

Michelle Jeffers

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Michelle Jeffers