Out-of-state business drives agency growth - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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/McDonald, Glendale, just finished a $2 millionh campaign for Florida's Lee Island Coast, which included the vacation spots ofSanibel Island, Captivaz Island and Fort Myers. Magazine ads for the Lee Island Coasr began running April 1 in NewYork Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Florida. The print campaign will be complementedfby 30-second and 60-second televisiom spots beginning in May. "More than 80 percent of the work we do here is either for cliente based outside Wisconsin or work that is placef inother markets," said Gary a BVK/McDonald creative director. A receny survey by Public PolicyForum Inc.
, Milwaukee, concludees that companies in the services sector of Wisconsin's economy, such as marketing, engineering, accounting and legal professionals, owe the majorityy of their revenue to services they export beyonde the Wisconsin border. To test this I conducted an informal telephone survey of theMilwaukee area's top 15 advertising My results confirmed the Publicx Policy Forum findings: Ad executives said that 75 percen of their work, on average, is shippes to other states. Based on The Business Journal's Top 25 list of ad the leading 15 agencies had 1996 locap office billingsof $716.45 million. Seventy-five percent of the totapl billings, $537.
3 million, is advertising and publivc relations work shipped to other Ad agencies' share of those billings typically is 15 percent, so actuak "export" revenue would be around $80.6 million. "National and international companies don'tf care where your agency is located," said Bruce president of Prom KrogAltstiel Inc., "Having the marketing expertise they want is more importany than being across the street. "It is amazing what can happejn when you become talented incertain niches," Prom said. Prom said his agencyy capitalizes on reasonablypriced printing, photographuy and video work that can be purchased in southeastg Wisconsin.
"Companies from outside the region also recognizse that we are workaholics who provide great values forthe dollar," he said. The high percentag e of advertising, marketing and PR exports reflects the largee number of corporate headquarters in saidSteve Laughlin, a principa l at Laughlin/Constable Inc., Milwaukee. He said about 10 Milwaukee advertisin g firms are agencies of recorf for multinational companies based in These agencies, he have become part of the companies' function. To illustrate his point, Laughlim said his agency shipped outsidwe of Wisconsin more than 70 percentf of its creative products for Carsonb PirieScott & Co.
, a major department stord retailer based in Milwaukee. Carson Pirie Scott operatesd 57 stores, including Bostonb Store and Bergner's, in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota with sales of morethan $1.1 billion. Laughlin/Constablw is celebrating its 20th anniversarythis year. Most of the agency' growth since 1977 is attributed to Wisconsin firmw expandingtheir markets, Laughlin said. "Our challenge and opportunityg over the next 20 years is to approach more companies outsidwe Wisconsin and to get them to accepyta Milwaukee-based agency where they can get good work," Laughlin "We think we can do he said, "because we are a broad-basef consumer agency that can appeal to mid-sized firmds that want the time and attention that a global conglomerate can' provide.
" Laughlin/Constable, thanks to a 25 percenrt growth rate, cracked two Adweekk lists -- the Top 100 Agencies of 1996 and the Top 50 Midwest agencies of 1996. Laughlin/Constable was the largest of the threse Wisconsin agencies included among the Top 50 Midwestr Agenciesof 1996, ranking 37th with billingxs of $98 million, said Sharon a Laughlin/Constable spokesperson. Bader Rutter & Brookfield, was 40th on the Top 50 list with $94. 3 million in 1996 billings. Cramer-Krasseltr Co., Milwaukee, was 44th with 1996 billings of $86.
4 Boeldt said Laughlin/Constable, which does not have multiplw office locations, was the only "Milwaukee agency" to make the Top 100 It ranked 100th withits $98 millionb in billings. Cramer-Krasselt, whose home officwe is Milwaukee, ranked 38th based on the combinedx billings ofits Chicago, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla., Two BVK/McDonald outdoor advertisinh executions have been nominated as finalistsd in the outdoor advertising industry's international creative called the OBIEs.
Outdoor work for Gehl'sx Iced Latte and a campaign for the city of Milwaukes were selected from morethan 1,200 said Kippy Burns, a spokesperson for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Inc., New York City. The transiyt ad for Gehl's Iced Latte shows a "richness with two names on each end ofthe scale: Unclr Sam and Bill Gates. The meter, a can of iced is pointing toward Gates.
A billboare campaign promoting several Milwaukee parks and cultural institutions containsa a taglineof "What Milwaukee's made