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UNC-Chapel Hill
Journalism 50
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Arnold Worldwide

Arnold is the 16th-largest agency in the U.S. with $193.8 million in gross income. Its headquarters are in Boston and has branches in New York, McLean, Va., and St. Louis. Recently, Arnold has had to close its San Francisco office, laying off 17 people. This closing was the result of declining business in the regional and national economy and the drop off in dot-com business. The McLean branch has recently cut 15% of its staff with the departure of Championship Auto Racing Teams account. Despite hard times in the advertising industry Arnold has been able to acquire the Simmons Durham Shop, McKinney&Silver, and Brand-house in Australia. With the acquisition of Simmons Durham, Arnold obtained the business of Brown-Forman's Jack Daniels brand spririts.

This year Arnold was able to win the $50-60 million Fidelity Investments, $40 million Choice Hotels, White Wave Silk and The Washington Post (both $15 million), Citizens Bank, and BBC America accounts. However, it lost the AT&T Broadband, Air France, JetBlue, Verizon. Dropped PNC Bank, FleetBoston for more Citizens, Fidelity accounts.

Currently some of Arnold's clients include: Boston Gas, Century 21, Citizens Bank, McDonald's, Pfizer, Puma, Titleist, and Volkswagen. (for complete list click here)

In addition to having large billings, Arnold is known for creative advertising. The agency's print and broadcast campaigns are normally humorous, but still succeed in creating a brand image for their clients. Some of their more popular campaigns have been the print and broadcast for Volkswagen and the shocking "Truth" commercials for American Legacy Foundation. The Volkswagen print campaign, "There's a blue one" is simple, effective, and the winner of many awards. The "Truth" commercials are partnered with Crispin Porter + Bogusky and rely on shock value. The commercials have featured a dying rat, body bags on the beach and downtown New York, and a deserted baby.

Print Sources

1. Griswold, Alecia and David Gianatasio. (2002, May 13). Havas makes Southern moves: Sumner advances at McKinney; layoffs at Arnold in Mclean. Adweek. [Online], 9 paragraphs. Available: Infotrac [2002, June 5].

2. Gianatasio, David and Trevor Jensen. (2001, May 14). Arnold Buys Simmons Durham. Adweek. [Online], 9 paragraphs. Available: Infotrac [2002, June 8].

3. Melillo, Wendy. (2001, Sept. 3). Legacy Turns Focus to Chemicals in New "Truth" Ads. Adweek. [Online], 7 paragraphs. Available: Infotrac [2002, June 5].

4. Chura, Hillary. (2002, June 10). Arnold to Close San Francisco Office. AdAge. [Online], 5paragraphs. Available: Lexix-Nexis [2002, June 12].

5. Standard directory of advertising agencies (Skokie, Ill: National Register Pub. Co., 1964)
call number: HF5805.S72

Web Sites

1. Title of Web Page: advertising agency and creative work
Web Address: http://ww0.adforum.com/preview/subscriber/list.asp
Brief Description: gives a list of all the ad agencies located in Boston including their type (full-service, interactive....). The site also includes addresses and phone numbers to each agency.
Source of Web site: adforum

2. Title of Web Page: top U.S. based agency networks
Web Address: http://www.adage.com/page.cms?pageId=885
Brief description: Ranks U.S. agencies according to billing and gross income. Given this information one can conclude which agencies in Boston are the biggest and how they rank on a national scale.
Source of Web site: Crain Communications

3. Title of Web Page: adweek.com
Web Address: http://www.adweek.com/adweek/report_cards/2001/arc2001_index.jsp
Brief description: Provides grades on agencies' numbers, creative dept, management, and regional highlights. It covers such national Boston agencies as Hill Holiday, Mullen, and Arnold. It also gives grades to North England agencies.
Source of Web site: VNU eMedia

4. Web title: Advertising Agencies Boston
Web Address: http://www.bostonadagencies.com/
Brief description: Provides a list of all advertising agencies in Boston with a brief description of their services and reputation. It also provides links to the agencies' websites.
Source of Web site: Cohen Marketing Group

5. Web title: advertising agencies menu
Web Address: http://advertising.utexas.edu/world/
Brief description: this is an alphabetical listing of all agencies with links to their websites. It also provides links to 22 other advertising-based websites that might be helpful.
Source of Web site: Texas-Department of Advertising at UT Austin