Parade of Shoes tapped Kansas City, Mo., shop Barkley Evergreen & Partners as its advertising and marketing agency of record after a six-week review.
BE&P bested Valentine-Radford, also in Kansas City, for the business. The agency will handle creative and media advertising duties, and create in-store point-of-purchase materials and a marketing database for the Topeka, Kan.-based retailer. The shop will also handle public relations for new store openings, said Bill Fromm, BE&P’s chief executive officer.
“They were looking for a marketing partner that could help them will all aspects of their business,” Fromm said.
Parade of Shoes spent $2 million on advertising in 1997, according to Competitive Media Reporting. Fromm estimated the consolidated billings from all aspects of BE&P’s work could push the budget to more than $6 million.
Parade of Shoes, a division of Payless ShoeSource, currently operates 184 stores in 14 states, mostly in the Eastern U.S. But Payless has plans to expand Parade, which it bought in 1997, to 800 stores nationwide.
Creative duties had previously been handled by Topeka agency Callahan Creek. The agency resigned the business in October for unspecified reasons. Media had been handled by Foote, Cone & Belding in Chicago, which continues as Payless ShoeSource’s agency.
BE&P’s first work for Parade of Shoes is expected to break in the spring, Fromm said.
Parade of Shoes Stops at BE&P
