They always come in to town with expectations. Great expectations that they will do great things. Make a mark in Chicago. Expand their footprint. All the good stuff that comes with success.
If only it were so all the time.
We were reminded of all this when the announcement reached our desk this week that Rokkan, a New York digital shop that opened in the year 2000, is about to make a major expansion into both Chicago and Los Angeles.
Yes, not one, but two big markets in one fell swoop.
The Chicago office could be up and running in a matter of weeks, according to Harley Block, Rokkan’s director of brand development and marketing. The plan, as it stands at this moment, is to take space at 35 W. Wacker Drive and launch the new office with a staff of six or so people.
Block said some of those six would be transfers from the home office in New York, while others would be locally sourced. About the same number of staffers are expected to be in place for the launch of L.A. office as well.
Rokkan new Publicis Groupe acquisition
There’s a reason, of course, why Rokkan is taking space at 35 W. Wacker. Those knowledgeable about downtown offices and ad agency addresses will recognize that Rokkan’s new West Wacker address also is the home of Leo Burnett, a key part of the Paris-based Publics Groupe agency holding company.
Last year Rokkan became part of the Publicis Groupe family too — just one of several developments in what turned out to be a banner 2012 for Rokkan. Among other things, the agency added new brands to the client roster, the head count in New York increased 96 percent over the course of the year, and revenue, always an important barometer, climbed 52 percent.
Block told us it wasn’t Rokkan’s intention to sort of blend in to the woodwork at Burnett and lose any distinct identity of its own. He said Rokkan’s office layout in the Burnett tower would make it clear to visitors that Rokkan isn’t coming to Chicago just to become another cog in the Burnett ad machine.
In Midwest to service PetCare business
So what is the reason for the shop’s arrival in Chicago?
Most immediately, Block said, the reason is to have an office more conveniently situated to service one of the agency’s major clients, St. Louis-based Nestle Purina PetCare. Many clients, though not all, like to have their ad agency nearby. PetCare, it appears, is one that does.
Beyond being able to better service PetCare, Rokkan wants to use its new base in Chicago to find clients in the Midwest that might be looking for a new agency. Block indicated the agency has expertise in travel and video gaming, and that could be useful as it looks to bring in new business.
JetBlue, Caesars Entertainment Group and video game publisher Bethesda are three of the shop’s key clients in New York.
Even as it was announcing a major expansion into two new markets, Rokkan also said it was bringing back on board Brian Carley as the agency’s New York-based executive creative director. Carley will report to Rokkan chief creative officer Charles Bae and will have a hand in determining how the two new outposts are staffed with creatives.
Most recently, Carley was an executive creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi/New York, but prior to that he spent two years at Rokkan as a creative director. So he knows the shop well enough.
As we can now see, Rokkan has made no small plans for invading Chicago, and buoyed by its great success in 2012, the shop appears intent on making a significant mark in the city.
Rokkan reminder of another digital shop
But this brings us back to those thoughts we referenced at the top of this column. Thoughts that flooded into our head as we were discussing Rokkan’s ambitious expansion plans with Block.
Perhaps it was our getting reacquainted with Block that caused our thinking to go the way it did.
We had previously interacted with Block when he was serving in a public relations capacity with R/GA, another digital shop that was perceived to be hot for a while.
We’re not sure how hot it is anymore. We don’t hear about much coming out of the agency. We certainly don’t hear much about what’s going on at the Chicago outpost of R/GA, which opened in 2010 — also with high hopes of making a major mark locally.
Though it includes among its staff Ken Erke, the former chief creative officer at Young & Rubicam/Chicago, R/GA in Chicago doesn’t appear to be going gangbusters. The website lists only three clients — Grey Goose, Microsoft and Ameriprise Financial.
It’s entirely possible R/GA is satisfied with whatever success the shop has enjoyed since opening in Chicago. But surely the expectation was that the shop would have made a bigger splash by now.
But whatever ultimately becomes of R/GA in Chicago, Rokkan arrives here intent on charting its own course. Finding success. Marking a mark. We shall see if it can. Won’t be easy. But the Rokkan crew will have to discover that themselves.
Contact Lewis Lazare at: LewisL3@aol.com
