LOS ANGELES Omnicom Group’s GSD&M Idea City in Austin, Texas, has added creative duties for two divisions of AT&T, previously handled in-house.
Those divisions are: 411 Services and 1-800-YellowPages. Ad spending for the units could not immediately be determined. AT&T in recent years has spent in excess of $50 million in measured media to support those units, with the 411 services receiving the lion’s share of the ad spend, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
Wendy Clark, svp, advertising at AT&T, confirmed the agency’s hire and said in a statement, “There’s no better partner to help spread that message than GSD&M Idea City.”
“We’ve had a long, successful relationship with AT&T,” said Duff Stewart, president and COO of the agency. “We are honored that AT&T selected us to help drive the marketing efforts that will position AT&T as the premier choice for local search information.”
Brent Ladd and Steve Miller, group creative directors, have been assigned to lead the account. The first work is expected to break in the spring.
GSD&M has worked for AT&T since 1997, but lost both the brand advertising to its Omnicom sibling BBDO and a portion of the client’s media chores to WPP Group’s Mediaedge:cia last year.
GSD&M in November cut approximately 10-15 percent of its staff (90-120 people) in the wake of those account losses, but an agency representative said it might be able to make some hires with the new AT&T assignments coming aboard.
The agency also handles the AT&T Yellow Pages and direct-response television assignments.
GSD&M Scores Twice With AT&T
