$10 Mil. Trex Eyes 3 Finalists

BOSTON Three contenders will make final presentations for the estimated $10 million ad account of Trex, a manufacturer of building materials made from a mixture of reclaimed wood and plastic.

Havas’ Arnold in McLean, Va., and Interpublic Group shops Fitzgerald + Co. in Atlanta and McCann Erickson in New York have advanced, according to Pile and Co., the Boston consulting company overseeing the review.

Out of contention are WPP Group’s Young & Rubicam in New York, as well as independents Marc USA in Pittsburgh and Trone Advertising in High Point, N.C.

A decision is expected by month’s end. Both creative and media chores are up for grabs.

The client in Winchester, Va., has spent $10 million in domestic measured media in each of the past few years, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Carmichael Lynch, an IPG shop in Minneapolis, has handled the account for seven years, but is not participating in the review. The agency’s “Create your space” campaign for Trex debuted last year in national magazines.

That effort used photographs of actual decks built with Trex materials, viewed from the interiors of various houses. One ad showed a deck with a putting green, built to a golf enthusiast’s specifications. Another execution showed a leaf-shaped deck at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minn.