Day to Help McElligott Wright

With one eye on opening a Los Angeles office, the Minneapolis agency McElligott Wright Morrison White has named Guy Day--one of the most familiar names in Southern California advertising--as its vice chairman.

Day’s central task is to help the 1-year-old agency land an automotive client. Capturing an auto account is the fastest way for a new agency to establish a presence on the West Coast.

The firm, whose most familiar client is the Washington Post, is among five finalists for the creative portion of the American Isuzu Motors advertising business. An agency is expected to be named in August.

If McElligott Wright wins the account, Day, 57, said it will open a Los Angeles office that he will head. If it fails to win the business, the firm will put its plans for an office on hold but continue to pursue other prospective automotive clients. Among them is Mazda’s yet-to-be-created “Pegasus” luxury car division.

“We’re going to get a car account,” Day said. “That’s what this is all about.”

Day, with Jay Chiat, co-founded the West Coast’s biggest agency, Chiat/Day/Mojo, in 1968. He left the firm in 1986.