The largest piece of business that remained at the soon-to-be-shuttered St. Louis office of TBWA Chiat/Day has been scooped up by Rodgers Townsend.
Union Electric in St. Louis, which is about to merge with Illinois energy company Cipsco to form Ameren, awarded its estimated $3-5 million account to year-old agency Rodgers Townsend, St. Louis, without a review.
Rodgers Townsend has done project work for the utility, including business-to-business advertising, community affairs and new project promotions, said Carlin Scanlan, manager of corporate communications at Union Electric. The agency contacted the company shortly after forming in October 1996, said Tim Rodgers, a founding partner.
TBWA C/D announced last month it would close its St. Louis operation at year’s end. The news came just about a month after Union Electric had chosen the shop, its agency of record, for a major branding assignment to announce its new, post-merger name.
Union Electric will be known as Ameren UE beginning next year. Cipsco, in Peoria, Ill., will operate as Ameren CIPS. TBWA C/D had completed one TV spot alerting consumers to the change. Rodgers Townsend is expected to produce one or two more TV spots as well as print work for that campaign. Left out in the merger was Cipsco’s agency, Hultz Fritz Matusczak & Associates in Peoria.
Ameren ads will use Union Electric’s tagline, “We’re always there.”
TBWA C/D St. Louis’ other remaining pieces of business were the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission.
The Post-Dispatch is parceling out work on a project basis, according to sources. A representative of the Convention and Visitors Commission said it has not yet begun the process of selecting a new agency for its estimated $1-2 million account.
With TBWA Closing in St. Louis, Ameren Selects Rodgers Townsend
