A creative point of view: B.E. Advertising Agency of the Year.

A fresh perspective and client partnerships have Don Coleman Advertising the designing edge

"How do you take your advertising?" reads the caption under a picture of a cup of coffee in the ad for Don Coleman Advertising Inc. (DCA). Like the agency's signature style, the ad is clean and elegant, yet with just the right amount of punch: "Well, if you want it to be successful, you take it rich and full-bodied. And if you want it to be strong, you take it Black."

For the past 10 years, black is exactly how CEO and President Don Coleman has served up the intelligent and delightfully entertaining creative product brewed in his shop. Whether it's Parliament's song "Flaslight" thumping behind the Dodge Neon commercial or the warm weekend family settings for General Mills' Bisquick and Betty Crocker's Super Moist cake mix, DCA ads capture the lifestyles of today's African American consumer.

"They have the ability to blend sophistication and hipness in their creative approach," says Ken Smikle, president of Target Market News, a Chicago-based marketing research firm that tracks black consumers. "What really accounts for the agency's success is the excellence they bring not only to the creative side, but also to their strategic planning."

Chock-full of young blood and creative zest, the Southfield, Michigan, agency bases its future growth on hub-and-spoke-style deals with clients. Besides its trademark advertising, research and strategic planning, DCA also offers public and press relations, promotions, media buying and special events. The courtly Coleman and firebrand Executive Vice President and partner Charles "Chuck" Morrison together present more than 45 years of advertising and marketing experience.

For its other clients--Domino's Pizza, Kmart, Shell Oil, Ameritech, Western Union, the Michigan State Lottery and Carson Products of Dark & Lovely fame--DCA provides the conduit to an African American market with more than $400 billion to spend. "More companies are realizing that this market leads product categories and drives many others," says the 46-year-old Coleman. "If a company is going to grow, it must be strategic and address the urban market. If it is going to put its product in the urban centers, it must speak to the African American audience."

Having raked in $111 million in billings last year, the full-service advertising firm is the third largest black-owned shop in the nation, behind Chicago's Burrell Communications and UniWorld Group in New York. The agency's ability to meld innovative creative product with clever business strategy serves as a lead for the next generation of black advertising firms. For these reasons, Don Coleman Advertising has the distinction of being named the BE Advertising Agency of the Year.

BUILDING A FORMIDABLE TEAM

If not for a football injury, Madison Avenue may never have seen the talents of Don Coleman. After knee injuries permanently sidelined him in 1977, the former linebacker for the University of Michigan, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets set his sights on advertising. With an M.B.A. in marketing from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, Coleman joined Campbell-Ewald Advertising in Warren, Michigan. By 1982, Coleman, then a vice president and management supervisor, began to see a trend the African American and Hispanic markets were growing like gangbusters, and if advertisers were smart, they would target them. But Coleman's observation and supporting research were lost on his employer. He resolved to learn as much as he could about the business, and in 1985 left for a senior manager position at Burrell.

In 1988, hungry to bring his new style of advertising to the forefront, Coleman left Burrell and launched Don Coleman & Associates. He culled some of the best and brightest talent in advertising research, strategic planning, media buying, creative and client services. One of those was Cheryl Harps, a communications whip who fine-tuned her media planning and buying skills in radio and television at Campbell-Ewald and BBDO before becoming executive vice president and director of media communications at DCA. The other was Ron Franklin, executive vice president and director of marketing operations and fellow Burrell alum, who is touted as the "godfather of African American advertising research." In 1995, with Domino's Pizza, Chrysler and General Mills accounts under its belt, DCA had finally arrived

"No one else has graduated from a black agency, started their own business and then become a rival to that former employer," says Smikle speaking of Coleman. "The real uniqueness behind DCA is that for a second-generation shop, it has had extraordinary growth." DCA, whose billings increased almost 25% last year, is projecting a conservative 20% growth for 1998. "That's important because it suggests that the next generation of black-owned ad agencies is in good hands," he adds.

To shore up that security, Coleman brought in Morrison. The former vice president of ethnic marketing for Coca-Cola USA, who has held various marketing positions at Procter & Gamble and the Schlitz Brewing Co., has an enviable track record. Some 20 years ago, Morrison, now in his early 50s, was instrumental in developing successful marketing programs for McDonald's and Carnation.

In 1995, with his own successful ethnic marketing consulting firm in one hand and d an offer to start his own ad agency in partnership with Ketchum Communications in the other, Morrison received a call from his longtime friend. "Don said, `The world doesn't need another African American owned agency; why don't we talk about getting together?'" recalls Morrison, who brought the corporate advertising vision to DCA. "The attraction for me was the opportunity to hook up with Don, who already had big clients, which meant that I could hit the ground running instead of pursuing a start-up."

The teaming of different worlds is also what bolsters DCA's most valuable resource--its creative produce Behind it is a top-notch creative team headed by the senior vice president and creative director duo of W. Juan Roberts and Abbey Onikoyi. Roberts' years of fashion experience producing elegant ads for Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren combined with Onikoyi's work for consumer product companies such as McDonald's, Kraft Foods, Sears and Clorox are a perfect melange.

The two have a work ethic inspired from on high. "We stay away from the `ghetto,'" states Roberts, referring to the hip-hop, finger-popping, singing, dancing and dunking ads that have been laid before African American consumers for so long. "If our work is to be effective, it must have energy and insight and be relevant to the marketplace. We try to present an intelligent African American image and mindset in everything we do." That puts feeding into stereotypes at the top of the agency's "don't" list, along with accepting any work from cigarette companies, says Morrison, who lost two uncles to lung cancer.

Even with all the right players, synergy and teamwork is what helps DCA land its accounts. "We win because of the instinctive nature of our people. Before we make a presentation, we script and rehearse it, running the play until everyone gets it right," notes Coleman. "By knowing all the possible directions a person might take, we're prepared if the script changes all of a sudden.

GROWING FROM THE INSIDE OUT

In the world of target marketing, the word on the street is that if you hear Don and Chuck are coming to the table m bid, you can forget about it. DCA pulls no punches when it goes after clients and isn't content with just a piece of business. "You can't have an account and think that the one brand, print campaign or commercial is all there is. Clients never let you in on all that is available right away," states Coleman. "You have to dig deeper. In doing so, you become part of the fabric of that organization and eventually a partner on the team." Such a game plan has spawned a business mix at DCA that is 55% television 35% print and 15% radio.

"My philosophy is very simple," notes Coleman, a Toledo, Ohio, native who is not one to say no to a round of golf. "It's to learn everything about the client, strategically attack the competition, establish product identity and grow the client's business." With this approach DCA has secured multiple contracts with existing clients, hence making it the nation's fastest growing black advertising firm. That growth, though controlled, did require some adjustments.

Last year, after being named specialty advertising agency for Kmart and Shell Oil's African American ad agency of record, DCA was starting to give way under its own weight. A facelift was in order, and the agency changed its name from Don Coleman & Associates to better identify it as an advertising agency, and moved into 25,000 sq. ft. of sprawling new digs in Southfield. "We had employees working from home and had to move in order to accommodate them," says Coleman, whose staff grew from 70 to 101 just to hen& the volume of work.

CORNERING THEIR MARKET

Ironically, DCA headquarters overlooks a branch office of REDO, one of the world's largest general market advertising agencies. "It's a running joke around here that we look down on them," says Morrison. But there is more than a joke in that statement. Today, an increasing number of general market ad giants, such as Saatchi & Saatchi, J. Walter Thompson and REDO, are fashioning ethnic marketing "boutique" agencies to tap the burgeoning minority markets. With an estimated $890 million in African American advertising dollars to be had, it's no wonder that the big boys are entering the fray. "General market agencies tell their clients that they can handle the ethnic markets, but they really can't. This is what we do every day. It's our sole market," notes Coleman.

One of the best examples of DCA's acute knowledge of the African American market is its success with Chrysler--the agency's largest account. Awarded the Detroit automaker's minority account in 1994, DCA handled advertising, promotions and special events for the Neon, Cirrus, Intrepid and Jeep vehicles. The campaigns were a hit in the African American segment--in particular, Jeep. "We had to show African Americans that these cars fit their lifestyle," says Coleman of the Jeep commercial with the Barry White voice-over and the "Enigmatic Joy" print ads. "Previously, Jeep was positioned as a wilderness buster, but most African Americans live in cities of concrete and asphalt, so we had to make the car luxurious and fit those environments." The agency's work was so successful that it cornered 17.9% of the black automotive marketing 1996--up from 13.8%in 1994. Proportionally, Chrysler held a higher percentage in the African American market than its 16.2% share of the total U.S. market.

Like wildfire, DCA has continued to nab Fortune 500 company accounts and churn out award-winning ads each year. "Their creative stands apart, not only from other African American agencies, but general market agencies as well," says Cheryl Bachelder, executive vice president of marketing and product development for Domino's Pizza. As its agency of record, DCA handles $10 million worth of business for the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company. "With Coleman our consumer awareness has increased, and we are neck-and-neck in market share with Pizza Hut in the African American segment," adds Bachelder. Domino's undoubtedly expects to do more business with Coleman in the future, building a partnership that may mirror the one DCA has with General Mills.

In 1994, after what began as a regional test campaign for Minneapolis-based General Mills' Honey Nut Cheerios and Trix cereals, Coleman was handed the African American Betty Crocker cake mix campaign as well as the print and radio campaigns for Hamburger Helper and Bisquick.

"By using DCA, we wanted to get the unique insights and tap the right emotional levels in order to connect with the African American consumer," says Autumn Boos, director of ethnic marketing at General Mills. "What works with the general market may not work as well with the African American marker We are always assessing how much should be changed." In that assessment DCA was also handed the promotions business for the music festivals and UniverSoul Big Top Circus, both of which General Mills is sponsoring this summer.

Positioned so deeply within its niche, DCA does not think the grass is greener on the other side. "We are not interested in general market accounts. It would be a waste of our energy," states Coleman. "Why would I jump into that shark tank when I'm dealing with the fastest growing ethnic segment that my general market competition knows nothing about?"

Looking ahead, Coleman plans to keep doing what he does, only better. On the outside, discussions are in the works for possible soft drink and beer company accounts. Attracting a meat company, hotel, cruise line or computer company account is also on the DCA wish list. Internally there are machinations as well, as DCA continues to grow its talent from within. Both sides pose the tough competition and challenges Coleman has chosen to shoulder. "You don't do your best when the sea is smooth like glass; you've got to have some big breakers. Out of that volatility comes your best work.