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DALLAS-Nine shops returned bids for the Texas Department of Transportation’s litter prevention advertisnig account after longtime incumbent GSD&M decided in January not to repitch the business.
Client representative Linda Levitt declined to identify the agencies. Sources, however, said respondents included: The Bagwell Agency, KWGC Advertising & Design and JWT Specialized Communications, all Dallas; Fogarty Klein & Partners, Houston; and T3, Sherry Matthews Advertising and Tuerff-Davis Enviro-Media, all Austin, Texas.
The two remaining shops could not be identified at press time.
Levitt said the responses will be evaluated and scored this week. An undetermined number of agencies will make oral presentations later this month, she added.
Among the criteria shops will be ranked on, Levitt explained, are experience with similar accounts and overall marketing capabilities. Levitt said speculative creative would likely be a requirement of the agencies’ oral presentations.
The first phase of the department’s agency search comes on the heels of a final campaign from GSD&M. The Austin agency last week launched television and radio ads with country singer LeAnn Rimes. The spots continue the “Don’t mess with Texas” positioning developed by GSD&M in 1985.
It was not clear if agencies would be asked to develop creative executions around that line or be encouraged to craft a new positioning.
A 1992 study commissioned by the Texas Department of Transportation said the slogan had achieved a 96 percent awareness rating within the state.
