DATE: Thursday, October 23, 1997            TAG: 9710230500

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   49 lines

BEACH AD AGENCY LANDS $20 MILLION STATE COONTRACT

Barker Campbell Farley & Mansfield Advertising, Public Relations and Promotions has won a $20 million contract to sell the state as a tourism destination.

The Virginia Beach agency will open a Richmond office to handle the new Virginia Tourism Corporation account. It will be staffed initially by three to five employees and managed by Pete Leddy, the agency's account services vice president.

The contract is for four years, at $5 million a year, with the option of three one-year extensions.

``This represents a real milestone account for this agency,'' said A. Palmer Farley, BCF&M chairman and chief executive officer.

Farley said the state tourism account will bring national awareness to the agency, as the Virginia Tourism Corporation is widely recognized for its innovative marketing and its ``Virginia is For Lovers'' campaign. It's also an entry into the lucrative Richmond market.

BCF&M beat out three Richmond advertising agencies, including Siddall, Matus & Coughter, which had the contract for the past seven years.

It will mark the first time the state tourism office's advertising agency was not headquartered in Richmond in at least two decades.

The agency is Hampton Road's largest advertising agency with $40 million in annual billings and 60 employees. The Virginia Tourism Corporation will join Sentara Health Systems and the city of Virginia Beach as its biggest clients.

With the addition of the state tourism office as well as several other new clients, BCF&M plans to hire eight to 10 employees in the next six months, Farley said.

It is one of the fastest growing agencies in the Southeast. The agency has doubled in size since 1994. Billings next year are expected to jump another 20 percent.

BCF&M was hired to help the state reach its goal of becoming one of the nation's top five tourist destinations by 2010.

The agency represents more travel destinations and attractions than any other agency in Virginia. Its clients include the Virginia Beach Department of Convention and Visitor Development, the Virginia Marine Science Museum, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the Family Fun and Surf, Sun, Revolutionary Fun vacation packages, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Top of the World (one of New York's most visited attractions atop the World Trade Center). ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

Pete Leddy

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