Admarketing Wins Pep Boys as Client

Philadelphia-based Pep Boys on Wednesday awarded its estimated $40-million advertising business to the Los Angeles agency Admarketing.

Those goofy ads featuring familiar caricatures of Pep Boys’ three founders--which have been used since the chain started 70 years ago--will soon be a thing of the past.

“Manny, Moe and Jack are still at the heart of our culture,” said Fred Stampone, senior vice president at Pep Boys, in reference to the three deceased founders. “But I’m afraid they bring back memories of our older stores.”

Pep Boys has mostly created its own advertising over the years. But with Admarketing’s help, the nation’s No. 2 auto parts chain hopes to modernize its image by heavily promoting its automotive “super stores” that are often three times the size of conventional auto parts outlets.

California is Pep Boys’ biggest market. The firm has built 95 of its 324 stores in the state.

Like virtually all industries, the recession has rolled over the auto parts business. Now, trying to get an edge over competitors such as Chief Auto Parts and Kragen Auto Parts, Pep Boys is trying to reposition itself as the biggest and most modern organization in the auto parts business. The chain wants to persuade consumers that it is the place for big-ticket items such as tires and mufflers, as well as small purchases such as car floor mats and motor oil.

“Admarketing represents very, very successful retail advertising,” Stampone said. Admarketing may be best-known for its “What a Difference a Day Makes” campaign for C&R; Clothiers.

The new account marks a big win for Admarketing, which continues to baffle rival Los Angeles agencies by attracting huge retail advertisers from across the nation. Almost half of its business is with clients based outside Los Angeles.

“It’s not a one-way street,” said Jack Roth, president of Admarketing. “Sometimes Los Angeles loses ad business to other cities, but we also take plenty of business from others.” Most recently, the Detroit office of J. Walter Thompson handled some advertising for Pep Boys.

Among Admarketing’s other retail clients are Atlanta-based Home Depot and the Bay Area’s Ross Stores chain. The Pep Boys business pushes Admarketing’s annual billings to about $340 million, ranking it second to Chiat/Day/Mojo among Los Angeles agencies.

But even with new substantial business, Roth said, the agency plans little additional hiring. “We’ll maybe add another person or two,” he said.