A lot of big clients have abandoned St. Louis over the years, and with them have gone the one-time bulwarks of the city’s advertising scene.
D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles’ decision to shut down its operation in the Gateway City last week had been anticipated for years.
“It’s sad to see it disappear,” said Charlie Claggett, who started at D’Arcy St. Louis as a copywriter in 1972 and left as its managing director 27 years later.
“At the root of the problem is the clients in St. Louis,” Claggett said. He pointed to one-time corporate giants and D’Arcy clients such as Southwestern Bell, which was acquired by SBC Communications in Texas, and TWA, which was purchased by American Airlines last year. Another former D’Arcy client, Ralston Purina, is now owned by Nestlé and no longer has its key accounts with local shops.
“There aren’t as many clients in town that need big agencies,” Claggett said of St. Louis.
While that has led to the form ation of many midsize shops in the town, it spelled doom for D’Arcy, whose parent, Bcom3, is soon to be acquired by the Publicis Groupe.
Executive creative director Ron Crooks, who declined comment, has run the shop on what was initially an interim basis. He has been at the helm since May 2000, when Gary Singer left. D’Arcy executives said at the time that they planned to bring in a new-business go-getter for the shop. Their failure to do so was a sign the office didn’t fit into Bcom3’s long-term plans.
The agency, which opened in 1906 as the original D’Arcy office, was the victim in 1994 of New York management when that office entered into a media deal with Miller Brewing Co. That led to the abrupt end of D’Arcy’s 79-year relationship with Anheuser-Busch.
The loss last year of TWA and the shop’s Coca-Cola work was the death knell, leaving just two clients serviced by about 40 employees.
D’Arcy’s M&M/Mars brands, Whiskas cat food and Uncle Ben’s Rice are expected to shift to D’Arcy Los Angeles; Skittles and Combos are expected to go to New York.
St. Louis Loses One-time Giant
