Creative Alliance Is on a Roll

Creative Alliance and its subsidiaries have added seven new clients, totaling some $25 million in annual billings.

“The talent is all coming together,” said Debbie Scoppechio, CA’s chief executive officer. “It doesn’t always keep going, but we’re liking it right now.”

The new business includes ABC/Disney Radio, Jillian’s Entertainment Corp., The Jockey Club, Tuaca Italian Liqueur and Don Eduardo Tequila, a Humana health insurance account and Thornton Oil Corp.

The wins, said Scoppechio, put the agency on track to generate $140 million in billings this year, compared with $119 million in capitalized billings in 1999.

A full-service shop founded by Scoppechio, a former social worker, Rick Duffy and Joe Adams in 1987, CA owns Sager-Bell in Louisville, Ky., January Associates in Nash-ville, Tenn., and the January Group in Chicago.

The Louisville-based parent added six in-state accounts, including Humana, Thornton and Jillian’s Entertainment Corp. The latter owns and operates 36 restaurants in the Northeast, Southeast and West. It plans to expand in the next six months.

Creative Alliance won agency of record status for The Jockey Club, headquartered in Lexington, Ky. The e-commerce start-up tracks equine bloodlines and provides information about the thoroughbred racing industry.

Sager-Bell added the creative and media accounts of Louisville-based Brown-Forman Beverages’ Tuaca Italian Liqueur and Don Eduardo Tequila. The shop already manages accounts for other Brown-Forman brands including Glen Morangie Single Malt Whiskey, Woodford Reserve Bourbon and Bolla Wines of Italy.

The January Group won creative and media duties for four stations owned by ABC/Disney Radio.

Sources familiar with Creative Alliance said Scoppechio’s aggressive management style and expansionist vision, supported by strong creative work, are driving the business forward.

The agency, for example, grabbed best of show honors at Louisville’s Louie Awards earlier this year for its Kentucky State Fair poster series.

“Our new Chicago [the January Group] company continues to pay off for us, while our Louisville office keeps racking up more business,” said Scoppechio. “These accounts further increase our regional presence and also establish us as a national competitor.”