
DATE: Sunday, November 16, 1997             TAG: 9711140963

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS 

        STAFF WRITER  

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  150 lines

AGENCY PUTS VIRGINIA - AND HAPTON ROADS - ON THE MAP

It has doubled in size during the past three years, lapping up tourism and health care advertising accounts from the Big Apple to the Beach.

It doesn't have a revolving glass door on Madison Avenue, and its total annual billings of about $40 million equal the size of some single campaigns in the world of global sponsorship deals.

Yet when Barker Campbell Farley & Mansfield wrestled the state's $20 million tourism account out of Richmond - one of advertising's favorite cities - competitors took notice.

``I was happy that a Virginia Beach agency got it,'' said Eric G. Lackey, president and co-owner of The Meridian Group, a smaller, rival local firm recognized as an up-and-comer in the industry.

``It probably gives the area some respect,'' Lackey said.

Traditionally, ad watchers regard Richmond, not Hampton Roads, as a national promotions center. Agencies in the capital are known for their historical work with Fortune 500 companies.

Local agencies have suffered because Hampton Roads hosts fewer corporate headquarters. Increasingly, however, the area's agencies have reached out and landed clients from Florida to Texas to New Jersey.

Closer to home, BCF&M won the Virginia Tourism Corporation account over three Richmond agencies, in part, on the strength of its past advertising campaigns that linked independent tourist attractions from around the region.

Agency leaders believe the contract, although not BCF&M's largest ever, will bring national recognition, as the tourism corporation has done with its ``Virginia is For Lovers'' campaign. Despite the change in ad agencies, the slogan won't disappear any time soon.

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

``I think this puts Hampton Roads on the map,'' BCF&M Chairman and Chief Executive A. Palmer Farley said during a recent interview. ``It makes us a contender. We are getting business in other parts of the U.S. from Virginia Beach. We're starting to create a little bit of an awareness.''

To be sure, the president of the Richmond agency that had the state contract for the past seven years downplayed the significance of losing the deal.

``Accounts come and go in the business,'' said John W. Martin of Siddall, Matus & Coughter, whose state ads will appear well into next year.

Still, Martin confessed, BCF&M has done well.

``I think they are a fine agency,'' he said.

With its 61 employees and modest suburban office building, BCF&M doesn't pretend to be a high-stakes marketing giant.

But the agency has positioned itself as the largest in Hampton Roads and one of the fastest-growing advertising, public relations and promotions firms in the Southeast.

``Our philosophy has always been, we do more than we need to do,'' Farley said. ``We are only successful if we make our clients successful.''

For instance, instead of submitting the standard government bid proposal to win the state account, BCF&M entered a full-color package that sampled some of its past campaigns.

The agency's clients include Sentara Health Systems, the city of Virginia Beach, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Top of the World, one of New York City's most popular attractions perched atop the World Trade Center.

To sell the New York center - a place already attracting 2 million visitors a year - BCF&M plans to pitch the observation deck and museum as a sort of theme park in the sky.

When it comes to landing high-profile tourism accounts, the agency can thank its seven-year partnership with Virginia Beach.

A City Council-appointed committee of tourism leaders picked the agency to promote resort attractions and economic development. In late 1995, the agency again won the city's business and could retain it through the turn of the century.

The city contracts have paid BCF&M from about $2.6 million the first year to this year's high of $4.5 million, said Ron Kuhlman, marketing and sales director in the city's Department of Convention and Visitor Development.

In return, the city has been the beneficiary of award-winning ads seen across the country.

Readers of USA Today last July might have caught one full-page ad featuring six beachfront airplanes carrying banners teasing various attractions of ``The New Virginia Beach.''

The concept was one of three that earned the agency coveted spots in a regional graphic design annual. The publication selected only a fraction of the reported 35,000 entries it received.

More important for the Beach, computer-tracked tourist inquiries about local vacations have surged from just under 250,000 in 1992 to more than 411,000 this year, according to city statistics.

Kuhlman said attributing the increase solely to advertising would be wrong, because word of mouth and changing demographics play roles in vacation habits.

But, he said, the advertising has made an impact.

In 1980, three partners - Farley, Robert A. Barker and William T. Campbell - departed from the Norfolk agency Lawler Ballard to form the original BCF.

Barker left his colleagues this March to pursue other interests. Through a reorganization, Creative Director Bruce Mansfield became a partner, forming the current, lengthy masthead.

A tour through the company's two-story complex near Newtown Road and Route 44 reveals little touches that set a creative tone.

Awards line cabinets and shelves. Many workers dress casually. A classic jock strap hangs on the door of a men's restroom. A few feet away, an old-style bra designates the women's restroom.

Writing and design teams think up ads while they munch on pretzels in a softly furnished alcove resembling a set from the hit show ``Friends.''

During a recent gathering, senior writer Sue Fay and senior art director Freda Shaver sat on a red couch across from their boss, Mansfield. They bounced ideas off each other, scribbled down catch phrases and eyed Shaver's quick pen sketches.

Fay and Shaver teamed up on this year's United Way ads that encourage people to, ``Fill in the blank . . . Generously.''

Mansfield said successful ads may come after lengthy creative sessions, during a shower before work or while falling asleep at night.

``It happens probably more often that way,'' he said. ``It's a little thought, and then you realize how many different ways you can take it.''

The creative spark at BCF&M could benefit local competitors and related businesses in Hampton Roads, from video producers to World Wide Web site designers.

Already, Stratum New Media in Norfolk has worked on a Web site for the agency. The relationship could extend to the state campaign.

``The scale of the agency sets them apart,'' said Dave Willman, one of four Stratum partners. ``They are just so big compared to anyone else locally.''

Lackey, of The Meridian Group, said his competitor's success could help other agencies pick up larger accounts outside of the region.

``They are a strong agency,'' Lackey said. ``We have the highest respect for them.''

Certainly, though, BCF&M has been on the losing side at times.

The Richmond firm that had the state tourism account, for example, recently became the agency of record for a health care provider that BCF&M does work for.

Farley agreed account turnover is all part of the ad game. He said BCF&M wasn't the health care provider's primary ad agency, anyway.

In this case, he said, his firm gained more than his Richmond counterpart. And that has him confident about the future.

``We really hustle,'' Farley said. ``We feel that our organization can compete with anyone.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]

STEVE EARLEY photos

The Virginian-Pilot

Barker Campbell Farley & Mansfield recently won the Virginia Tourism

Corporation account, in part, on the strength of campaigns that

brought attention to the tourist appeal of Hampton Roads.

Good ad ideas may come from lengthy brainstorming sessions - or just

about any time - says Creative Director Bruce Mansfield, above.

Below, Mansfield participates in an ideas conference with Sue Fay,

left, a senior writer, and Freda Shaver, a senior art director at