Letters

Grading Adweek: Some Thoughts on Report Cards As a satisfied client of Long Haymes Carr, I was shocked to read the recent ratings your magazine gave them [Agency Report Cards, April 24]. Having been associated with Steve Zades and Long Haymes Carr for more than five years now, I have to say I don't think this agency has ever done a better job than they are currently doing. I have consistently challenged Steve Zades and Mylene Pollock to create advertising for Thomasville Furniture that sets us apart from the competition. We have received an overwhelming response to the campaign launched last year on our popular and successful Ernest Hemingway Collection. This multimedia campaign, developed by LHC, coupled with an outstanding media plan, has created a "buzz" in our business, unlike any other before it. It's clearly an outstanding effort, in my opinion. As a client, I rate an ad agency on the basis of what my company gets out of the relationship. With the direction we are giving Long Haymes Carr, we are very satisfied with the results. Bottom line: I wouldn't be doing business with them if I were not satisfied. To me, your D+ grade does not reflect the level of expertise and leadership we currently enjoy from Long Haymes Carr. James E. Adams Senior vice president, chief marketing officer Thomasville Furniture Industries Thomasville, N.C. After reading your April 24 issue, I felt compelled to express an alternate point of view than that expressed in your Agency Report Cards. I am a big fan of Adweek, but as a client of Long Haymes Carr, I do not believe the article was right or well done. When we were a startup four years ago, LHC provided the service and the quality of effort and output that we could not have received anywhere else. They had big clients who billed lots of money, but they treated us as if we were the most important client they have ever had. With the nationwide launch of our coffee system, Keurig now has a brand image that LHC helped create on a shoestring budget. LHC continues to keep me in the loop on topics of interest to my company. The agency's work and service have been first class, and they've invested in the future of Keurig. I will be as loyal to LHC as they have been loyal to me. Chris Stevens Vice president, sales and marketing Keurig Premium Coffee Systems Boston Your grade for Long Haymes Carr was completely off base. Having worked with the agency for the past nine months, I have found them to be an outstanding firm. LHC is filled with extremely dedicated, hardworking, creative individuals. I have found Steve Zades' willingness to expose the firm to new ideas and areas, combined with his creative attitude, very inspiring. I suggest you go back and do your homework on LHC. Brendan Boyle Studio leader IDEO Product Development Palo Alto, Calif. As a general rule, I dislike defensive, pedantic, whining people. I will try to avoid being this as I respond to the commentary on our performance in your Agency Report Cards. I submit that an agency that gains $160 million in new business; wins 11 new clients (eight in competitive pitches); is recognized by The New York Times to have produced three of the nation's top 10 campaigns; and attracts an executive creative director acknowledged to be Britain's best is the performance of an agency genuinely on the way up: FCB in San Francisco is just such an agency. Simon Bolton Executive vice president, managing director Foote, Cone & Belding San Francisco I'm not in the habit of grousing about such highly subjective stuff as Adweek's Agency Report Cards. But as guardian of The Helzberg Diamonds brand, I feel compelled to set the record straight. In the issue, you referred to Helzberg's print work as a "shameless rip-off of the De Beers campaign." The fact is, our witty, down-to-earth take on the relationship between man, woman and diamonds was conceived in radio, print and TV more than a year before De Beers turned up with a surprisingly similar point of view. Perhaps the fact that De Beers outspends Helzberg 10 to 1 may have led your writer(s) to assume otherwise. An incorrect assumption. And, I might add, a "shameless" job of reporting. Mike Drazen Managing partner, chief creative officer Earle Palmer Brown Philadelphia Without Self-Restraint, the Ad Industry Should Be Regulated I hope I was not the only one disturbed by Wendy Melillo's piece opposing federal (i.e., effective) regulation of advertising in schools [Art & Commerce, April 17]. Let's start with the fact that it ran facing a paid ad for Channel One's in-school advertising network. Even overlooking the implications of that editorial decision, the piece itself still left me shaking my head. Once again, absolutely anyone and anything are fair game for advertising--regardless of the real cost. It seems that for many in our business, the only moral litmus test is, "If it might make us money, it's OK by me." Gary Ruskin had it right: There are lines that shouldn't be crossed. Period. And until the industry demonstrates a little healthy self-restraint, government regulation is not only inevitable but necessary. The sad truth is, if we left it to "free-market rules," we'd be watching Marlboro Man spots during The Simpsons. Doug Irving Freelance writer Austin, Texas For the Record: In the Online Web Poll [Art & Commerce, March 20], one of the answers to the question "Which magazine upstart is most likely to top Adweek's hot list some day?" should have read Business 2.0. Adweek welcomes letters. Send them to: Letters to the Editor, Adweek, 1515 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10036. Or fax them to: 212-536-1416. Readers can also send comments to mlang@adweek.com. Please include name, title, company and location. Letters may be edited for length and clarity

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