L.A. Gear’s Ad Agency Walks After 3 Months : Athletic shoes: Creative and strategic differences cited by Los Angeles office of BBDO Worldwide.
L.A. Gear’s ad agency has given the sneaker maker the boot.
The Los Angeles office of BBDO Worldwide on Friday said it was resigning the account primarily because of creative and strategic differences.
The loss of its ad agency--which L.A. Gear named with great hoopla just three months ago--represents yet another in a series of blows the once high-flying Marina del Rey firm has suffered recently.
Earlier this week rival Nike Inc. sued L.A. Gear, alleging that a technology used by the company for its new Catapult men’s basketball shoe infringed on a patent licensed to Nike. L.A. Gear denied the charges.
Meanwhile, the firm is feeling increased pressure from lenders who say the firm is in technical default of its $360-million loan. And the company reported a loss of more than $7 million in the last quarter.
L.A. Gear launched Catapult to give it a lift, particularly to grab a share of the high-performance athletic shoe market. The company had for some time created its ads in-house. But BBDO initially was given the Catapult business.
“I was naive,” said Gene Cameron, president of BBDO/Los Angeles, when asked why his agency worked so hard to win the account late last year. “We thought they really wanted to change the way they did advertising. But I guess they didn’t.”
The exact size of the agency’s L.A. Gear ad business was not revealed. But it is believed BBDO was initially handling an estimated $5-million chunk of business with hopes of eventually landing much of the $60-million account. Instead, it is “one of the shortest relationships” in BBDO’s history, Cameron said.
“I respect their judgment,” said Cameron, who noted that there will be no layoffs at his agency as a result of the account loss. “But I want the world to know that we didn’t create any ads for L.A. Gear that ever appeared anywhere. At some point, that starts to hurt.”
The agency did play a role in creating a TV spot for the Catapult shoe that was first broadcast during the Super Bowl. But L.A. Gear’s in-house ad staff made substantial changes to the commercial. It also added the line, “Everything else is just hot air,” after BBDO executives advised them that rival ASICS had already used it.
Sandy Saemann, L.A. Gear executive vice president for marketing, was traveling in Germany on Friday, but the company issued a prepared statement. “We are shocked that they chose to resign the account,” the statement quoted Saemann. “The loss of BBDO will have no negative impact on our ability to sell and market our products,” he said. The company does not plan to solicit bids from other agencies. Ads will again be created by L.A. Gear’s in-house staff, the company said.
L.A. Gear has a history of problems with its agencies. In 1986, it hired the agency Ogilvy & Mather, but that relationship ended in about two weeks.
“This should vindicate Ogilvy & Mather for our short experience with them,” said Gerald D. McGee, managing director of Ogilvy’s Los Angeles office. “In this market, you have to be seriously beaten by a client before you give up billings.”
