Padulo Integrated wants to add a creative reputation to its list of accomplishments.
The Toronto agency has gone through several incarnations in the past 11 years as it has grown from a small retail shop to an integrated agency with around $100 million in annual billings.
But with all the agency has achieved, creative awards have been elusive.
Rick Padulo, the agency’s entrepreneurial president and ceo, says part of the reason is, rightly or wrongly, the company stopped entering award shows several years ago. He says he felt much of the work entered was self-indulgent and designed more to fill the creative person’s portfolio than to sell product for the client.
‘I said that our raison d’etre is to create business for our clients, not to win award shows,’ says Padulo.
‘But we’ve got people in our organization who want to be proud to work here, and this is one way they get recognized.’
As a result, Padulo says the agency will begin entering some awards shows this year.
How does an agency set about establishing a creative reputation?
Brian Harrod, executive vice-president and creative director at Harrod & Mirlin (and a winner of numerous national and international awards for his advertising) says if an agency wants to be known quickly as a creative agency, it has to win awards.
‘I think you can become a creative agency slowly by just doing really effective advertising that people begin to notice and talk about.
‘To do it quickly, you have to clean up at the award shows, and get some international awards.’
He says that before an agency can win awards, the commitment to creative has to begin at the top.
‘The leadership of the agency has to really want to build a creative agency.
‘You have to go out and get the right creative director. He has to build the right creative department. And, in turn you have to start attracting clients that allow you to be creative.’
Harrod says the benefits of having a creative reputation are that it not only attracts good creative people but also strong account people.
‘Having a creative reputation attracts good people at less money than you would normally have to pay them.
‘It also holds good people because they get the opportunity to do great creative. [To] the best creative people, money is secondary to them.’
Padulo began the task of building its creative reputation last year with a restructuring that brought a number of new people on board, including two senior executives in the creative area.
The agency formed an alliance with Syd Kessler, known in the industry for his creative production talents, who is working on his own projects as well as several for Padulo.
Industry veteran Peter Day, senior vice-president, associate creative director, was brought into the agency in November to work with Doug Moen, executive vice-president and creative director.
Because of the strategic focus of the agency, Moen and Day work closely on strategy with David Deacon, coo and John Boniface, senior vice-president, account services, both of whom joined Padulo last September.
Day says when he began at Padulo, he was surprised by the quality of the creative product, 50% of which he didn’t realize had come from the agency.
‘I think with all agencies, it’s perception and reality.’
‘The intriguing thing about this agency is historically it’s always been regarded as a strong retail-based agency, and the perception on the street has been very much that,’ says Day.
‘The reality these days is there’s probably one piece of true retail business in this agency.’
One of the most recent and more visible campaigns created by Padulo is the new big-budget image campaign for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
The bank is expected to spend between $12 and $20 million on the campaign which began earlier this month and is scheduled to run throughout the year.
