A David in the Land of Agency Goliaths

By Ronald R. Urbach on July 23, 2015

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Marketing 

Sometimes it seems like the advertising industry is nothing but a land of Goliath’s – Goliath’s that are bent on marrying or eating one another.                                                                      

David Angelo launched the David&Goliath agency in 1999, he and his agency have had enormous success by “thinking like David,” being nimble, resourceful, creative and brave – and fiercely independent. I’d also add “slyly funny” to that list of descriptors. David&Goliath’s Super Bowl spot for the Kia Sorento poked fun at over-the-top Super Bowl ads by having former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan dodge owls and a moose on a snowy mountain road. AdWeek’s Tim Nudd listed it among his five favorite ads of Super Bowl XLIX. David&Goliath’s spot for last year’s Super Bowl – which featured Laurence Fishburne in his role as Morpheus from the Matrix singing Pucini in the back of a Kia K 900 – created a similar buzz.                                                                            

In addition to doing standout work, a successful independent agency needs to maintain a diverse client base. In addition to Kia Motors, David&Goliath works with Vizio Electronics, the California State Lottery, Universal Studios, and in the past several months has been added to the agency roster for Jack in the Box and Coca-Cola’s Zico Coconut Water brand.

The Way I See It

For all the mergers and acquisitions going on in the ad industry, the role of strong creatively focused independents is very much in demand. As a recent AdWeek article by Janet Stilson pointed out, the top 5 conglomerates grew by 1.9 percent in 2012, while the industry as a whole grew by 9.4 percent.
One factor that may be driving the success of the independents is a growing inclination among certain clients to not put all their advertising eggs in one basket. For instance, when Jack in the Box hired David&Goliath, their stated goal was to complement the work being done by Secret Weapon, which has served Jack for more than 20 years. Sometimes it’s good to have competing creative brains at the table.

The Way the Industry Sees It

I sat down with David Angelo, Founder and Chairman of David&Goliath, to talk about his agency and the benefits of staying independent. 

Read the original article on Madison Ave Insights.