Miller Myers Bruce DallaCosta has disappeared, but the bulk of its staff and client list lives on at the Toronto office of BBDO Canada.
Three weeks after mmbd parent, The Lopex Group, forced the agency into bankruptcy, 12 of mmbd’s staff of 24 are safely ensconced as a business unit within bbdo.
McIntee, Smith move
Stan McIntee, former mmbd chairman and chief executive officer, and Mike Smith, president and creative director are among those who made the move.
The new business unit will continue to work with mmbd clients adt, Bausch & Lomb, Royal LePage and Sony.
The new accounts add $15 million to the bbdo tally and, when added to Molson Red Dog and Hostess Frito Lay, bring the agency’s total new business acquisition in 1994 to $55 million.
Subaru Canada was one account that did not follow mmbd because of the conflict with bbdo client Chrysler Canada.
Brad Gamble, national advertising manager for Subaru, says while mmbd had been the company’s national agency, he has also been working with Accelerate Design, a division of Waterloo, Ont. agency Quarry Communications, for the past three years on dealer business.
Accelerate will pick up the slack for the next few months.
The closure of mmbd hit Subaru in the middle of the launch of its 1995 Legacy.
‘I’m lucky,’ Gamble says. ‘If I only had one agency, it would have been quite a bit more traumatic.
‘This is the big launch,’ he says. ‘Once I get through it, I will re-evaluate the situation and make some decisions.
‘By late September, I can sit down and take a breath.
‘mmbd staff was extremely supportive in helping us through the transition and keeping our interests at heart.’
mmbd was founded in 1984.
Lopex Group
The Lopex Group, an international communications company with its headquarters in London and more than 30 companies in 11 countries, bought a minority share in mmbd in 1990 and bought the rest of the agency two years ago.
When Lopex concluded that Canada was no longer part of its strategy, it decided to close mmbd at the end of July.
Coopers & Lybrand has been appointed to deal with the winding up of the business.
