Tony Stanol Success Stories

 

1. Expanding an Existing Account Relationship

 

By 1995, FCB New York (the Foote, Cone and Belding advertising agency) had approximately 80% of the Nabisco account billings in the U.S.  This included cookies from the Biscuit division, most of the LifeSavers Company candy and gum brands, Fleischmann’s Margarine, Egg Beaters and Milk Bone dog biscuits.  The other agency of record in the U.S. was McCann Erickson with cracker brands Ritz and Triscuit.

 

The situation outside of the U.S. was quite different.  Twelve agencies divvied up the Nabisco account billings of approximately $65 million U.S.  The lion’s share of the business went to McCann and J. Walter Thompson.  FCB had virtually none of the Nabisco International business.

 

The challenge:  how to gain more business from Nabisco overseas.

 

Tony had been the account director in charge of the LifeSavers division account at FCB in the U.S.  One of his former clients moved to the Nabisco International division and suggested that FCB should do something about the advertising which was at best described as “a hodgepodge.”  For instance, there were different campaigns for Oreo cookies in virtually every country.  Little sharing or transfer of knowledge took place.

 

Tony took the FCB story on the road.  Some of the same insights and campaigns that were successful for Nabisco in the U.S. could be considered in other markets.  He managed to land the business in country after country:  Venezuela, Peru, Argentina and Spain.  However, this was taking a lot of time and effort, pitching country after country, one at a time.

 

By 1996, Nabisco management saw the wisdom in agency consolidation and pitted FCB against the top two global agency networks:  McCann Erickson and J. Walter Thompson.

 

Tony led the FCB pitch team with the help of the rest of the Nabisco account group, creative department and research.  FCB’s perceived weakness by the client:  a thinner international network than the other two powerhouses.  FCB’s advantage:  an intimate understanding of the cookie brands and successful advertising campaigns.  FCB played to this advantage and parlayed their perceived weakness into a strength.  They positioned themselves as a nimble network able to tailor itself to the needs of the client.

 

Results:  FCB was awarded the strategic and creative portion of the account in  over 30 countries outside the U.S. McCann received media planning and buying.  Tony quickly took to the road and introduced FCB to the new clients around the world, many of whom resisted change because they were quite happy with their former agency relationships. 

 

Little by little, Nabisco International personnel were won over with successful new campaigns and FCB’s commitment.  The “Only Oreo” campaign which originally aired in the U.S. made its way into 20+ countries. It was adapted to local talent and cultural mores.  Production economies were realized with the creation of an animated character, Royalito, for Royal desserts, the “Jell-O” of Latin America.

 

Within one year of winning the business, FCB was additionally awarded the international media assignment from McCann.  Tony was in charge of the Nabisco International account for over 3 years.

 

 

2. Saving a Troubled Account

 

The single biggest market for Frito-Lay products after the U.S. is Mexico.  Tony joined BBDO New York, Pepsi’s lead agency, in 2000 to run the Frito-Lay International business.

 

The problem:  the relationship between BBDO and the local Frito-Lay company, Sabritas, had seriously deteriorated to a point where the agency was about to be fired there.  Anxious to make a difference, Tony suggested he go there and sort out the problem.  BBDO management, however, knew that the client’s problem stemmed from some bad chemistry with the local BBDO president and suggested it was a “lost cause”.

 

Tony found himself in Mexico City for a regional meeting of Frito-Lay Latin America.  There, he favorably impressed the VP Marketing of Sabritas with his passion for the business and frank insights into their business.  The marketing exec suggested that no one has asked the type of questions Tony did at the local BBDO office.

 

Soon, Tony figured out a way to solve the Mexico mess.  Instead of making the account loss a foregone conclusion, he suggested the account be restructured and report to his team in NY, not the local president.  The president would no longer interfere with the account as Sabritas saw it.  The Sabritas client finally agreed to the plan.

 

Tony personally took charge of the account while he looked for a new senior leader.  He spent considerable time in Mexico.  He was even invited to the Sabritas annual sales conference in Acapulco, which he gladly accepted.

 

Tony sought out a former FCB colleague who was general manager of the FCB promotions agency in Puerto Rico.  This individual, a Spaniard by way of Venezuela, had already told him he was getting “island fever” and was ready to leave.  BBDO transferred him and his family to Mexico and he took over managing the Sabritas account, reporting to New York.

 

This plan saved the Sabritas account at BBDO and was one of the ways Tony made a difference for the agency and client.

 

 

3. Reinvigorating a Stale Account

 

Tony joined J. Walter Thompson New York in 2002 to run the U.S. and international Adams account, a division of Pfizer.  This collection of confections brands such as Halls throat lozenges and Trident gum had been at the agency for 36 years and wasn’t receiving the attention it deserved.  The agency had not developed a winning campaign for Trident for over seven years and was suddenly on notice to develop one.  At the same time, Pfizer was putting the Adams company on the auction block to divest of the candy business and concentrate on pharmaceuticals.

 

Tony orchestrated the agency’s resources, focusing primarily in the U.S. to develop a new Trident campaign.  The account group was restructured.  Planning resources were brought in to get close to the consumer.  A new creative team was assigned, a duo who had also worked at BBDO. 

 

Through rigorous copy testing and client scrutiny, a new campaign emerged by the end of the year.  The “5^th Dentist” campaign leveraged an old campaign which built the brand:  “4 out of 5 dentists recommend Trident sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum.”  The updated campaign posed the premise, “whatever happened to the fifth dentist?” and suggested that perhaps he would have voted in favor of Trident had not some off-beat calamity occurred:  getting bit by a squirrel, getting smacked with a clip board.

 

The Adams client was delighted.  They even made an unplanned purchase of a spot on the 2003 Super Bowl.  Consumers responded, too.  The commercial made the top 10 in USA Today’s Super Bowl viewer’s poll.  It also received extraordinary press coverage for its outrageousness and low production costs.  Most importantly, it boosted sales of Trident as soon as it aired.

 

The Adams client gave J. Walter Thompson its best performance review ever in the U.S. and in other key countries for 2002.  Importantly, when Pfizer sold Adams to Cadbury in April, 2003, JWT was retained as agency of record.  Not only that, but the agency was awarded two additional brand assignments:  Bubblicious and Chiclets.  It was a milestone year in the Adams/JWT relationship.