Latino Ad Agency Closes; Chief Moves to BBDO Unit

Less than five months after an unusual marketing experiment where a local Latino advertising agency purchasing a general market ad shop, the venture has failed.

Castellanos Latina Advertising, a 5-year-old Encino agency that last year purchased the troubled firm, Good Guise Advertising & Marketing, has closed its doors.

The president and chief executive of Castellanos Latina, Julio J. Castellanos Sr., has joined the Los Angeles office of BBDO Worldwide where he will oversee its newly formed Spanish-language advertising division. A handful of employees from Castellanos Latina have joined him there.

Meanwhile, Norma Lynn Cutler, who founded Good Guise in 1974, reopened her firm in Santa Monica last week under the name Great Guise.

“It actually worked very, very well,” said Castellanos, of his agency’s short ownership of the Good Guise.

“It worked in chemistry and capabilities,” he said. “The only place it didn’t work was in the financial area. Clients were too slow in paying their bills.”

Chief among those clients was the Broadway--which ranked as Castellanos’ largest Spanish language client.

The Broadway and its parent, Carter Hawley Hale Stores, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection last month, reportedly owing the agency several hundred thousand dollars. But the Broadway--and four other clients--have agreed to follow Julio Castellanos to his new firm.

Five years ago, Castellanos Latina opened with just the $10,000 ad business for Circus Vargas. Its billings grew rapidly, and at its peak last year the firm was billing more than $20 million annually.

Its purchase of Good Guise, which specializes in real estate advertising, came at a time the real estate market was suffering. Some real estate clients were slow to pay their bills, Castellanos said. But the Broadway bankruptcy is what finally did the agency in, he said.

Gene Cameron, president of BBDO/Los Angeles, said his agency is fully committed to Spanish-language advertising.

“It’s no longer just tokenism,” he said, “It’s a valid market.”

The closing of Castellanos is not indicative of any long-term troubles in Spanish-language advertising, said Richard Dillon, president of Newport Beach-based Mendoza, Dillon & Asociados, one of the largest Latino agencies in the nation.

“The industry is alive and well,” said Dillon.

“There was bound to be a shakeout among the smaller shops.”