Persistence Pays as Costa Mesa Ad Firm Nets PacTel

If Salvati Montgomery Sakoda had a company motto, it might be this: “If at first you don’t succeed, try again in about two years.”

The Costa Mesa advertising agency, which was a runner-up about two years ago for a lucrative PacTel Cellular/Los Angeles account, has wrested the account and its more than $6 million in annual billings from Wakeman & deForrest, an Irvine ad agency.

Conley Smith, PacTel’s manager for advertising and promotions, said the company invited Salvati Montgomery to bid again on the account in November. He said that although the company was pleased with Wakeman & deForrest’s early work on the account, it has not been as happy lately.

“Salvati continued to learn our business during that time, and they filled in some pieces we thought were missing before,” Smith said, noting that Salvati has gained more experience with direct-response advertising in recent years.

PacTel Cellular, a subsidiary of Pacific Telesis Group, sells most of its services through sales visits. It is the nation’s third-largest cellular telephone operator, and its Los Angeles service area is its largest region.

PacTel becomes Salvati Montgomery’s largest account, said Philip Salvati, company president. Formerly, the company’s largest account, valued at $6 million annually, was Valley National Bank of Arizona.

Wakeman officials express surprise at the loss of the PacTel account, noting that the company’s PacTel ads have won several industry awards: a Clio, a Belding and a radio ad that was named best of the year by AdWeek magazine in 1989.

“It was a shock and something we’re very disappointed about,” said Timothy Pearson, Wakeman’s executive vice president.

Wakeman also lost two executives to Salvati Montgomery. Bruce Barta, account supervisor for the PacTel account for Wakeman, has joined the Costa Mesa firm. Karl Lendenman, research director for Wakeman, has also joined Salvati Montgomery.

The loss of the PacTel account is a blow to Wakeman, which has annual billings of less than $30 million. The agency laid off two people Friday and more layoffs are expected, Pearson said.

Pearson said Wakeman should be able to weather the loss of the account. He said the company recently won a national account for the Kinko’s copying and printing center chain.

Much of Wakeman’s work for PacTel was promotional, seeking potential customers who would agree to a sales visit. The most recent ad for print and television offers a free Casio electronic date book to people who lease cellular phones and sign up for PacTel service.