AKRON, Ohio – Akron-based advertising agency Malone Advertising announced that it reeled in the biggest account in its 61-year history - retail media planning and buying for John Deere Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment Division, based in Cary, N.C.
The account is so big that Malone will add 25 people to its 150-member payroll just for John Deere. That's on top of the 50 people it has hired since March to hanle a new customer marketing account for Nestle Co.
Malone President and Chief Executive Fred Bidwell estimates that the John Deere account is worth "tens of millions."
"Just to give you an idea, our billings in 2003 were $90 million and our projected billings this year are over $180 million," he said.
Malone will be in charge of planning and buying advertising for more than 2,000 John Deere dealers across the United States and Canada who sell everything from riding lawn mowers to all-terrain vehicles. The account had been handled by the Chicago office of global advertising agency Foote Cone & Belding.
The new account is an expansion of Malone's existing relationship with Deere & Co., one of the world's largest producers of heavy equipment for agriculture and forestry and a major maker of machines for construction, lawn, grounds and turf care. Deere hired Malone to buy media for its Midwest markets.
"Malone demonstrated a unique capability in managing the complexity of a major field marketing advertising program while maintaining excellent relationships with our dealers," Mike Hosliner, John Deere's director of marketing services, said in a statement.