Reunion Is Saving Grace For Ex-Scali Colleagues

Bill Tucker bailed out a couple of former partners from Scali, McCabe, Sloves and helped himself along the way in forming Tucker, Hampel, Stefanides & Partners. Larry Hampel and Dean Stefanides needed a place to turn to for themselves, their remaining clients and some employees after parent Envoy closed their agency, Hampel/Stefanides, this month. And Bill Tucker, CEO of The Tucker Partnership, which claims $70 million in billings, was in the market for account planners and media buyers, not to mention the handful of clients expected to come over from the defunct shop."We wanted to buy them last year, but we had a conflict at the time, so we couldn't do it," said Tucker, who remains CEO. The conflict was overcome when Hampel/Stefanides last fall lost its $40 million Castrol account, which had clashed with Tucker's $30 million Quaker State motor oils and lubricants business."We had thought about a purchase again, since they had lost Castrol, but then when [parent] Envoy pulled the plug, we just decided to bring them in," Tucker said.Hampel and Stefanides will both serve as senior partners and executive creative directors, overseeing the shop's creative department. Between 10 and 15 of their former employees will shift to the new venture, joining about 40 of Tucker's employees.Perhaps more important, at least for the new agency's bottom line, is that they are bringing clients that include Court TV, BASF, Aer Lingus, Neuberger Berman and Steve Madden Shoes, which add up to about $30 million in billings, according to CMR. Representatives for each client confirmed that they are negotiating with THS&P's principals to move their accounts to the shop."We thought Hampel and Stefanides have done good work for us, and we want to maintain that relationship," a Steve Madden rep said.Tucker said his new colleagues' experience with Castrol will be a boon to his agency's Quaker business."Between the three of us, we have decades of work on oil, and that experience will make a big difference in the work we do for [Quaker]," Tucker said.Quaker representatives were not available for comment.Tucker's 10-year-old shop's other clients include GE Corporate, Dreyer's and parts of LVMH, which add up to about $35 million in billings, according to CMR.Tucker first worked with Stefanides in 1979, when they were co-creatives on the Singer Sewing Machine account at Scali. Hampel joined the shop a few years later, and the three worked closely on Maxell, Volvo and Castrol. Hampel and Stafanides left to start their own shop in 1993."When Larry and Dean started their company, we viewed each other as competitors, mainly because [my agency] had Quaker State and they had Castrol," Tucker said. "We always said that if it wasn't for the oil between us, we would have a great partnership."Hampel/Stefanides' financially strapped parent company, Toronto-based Envoy, last March cut 75 of the shop's employees, 15 percent of its staff, following a 24 percent revenue drop to $11 million from a year earlier. The biggest hit came in October, when Castrol, the shop's largest client, dropped the agency to go to WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather in New York.Envoy, which purchased the shop in 1998, had been shopping it to four suitors.

Brand Marketing

Reunion Is Saving Grace For Ex-Scali Colleagues

David Kaplan

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

David Kaplan