While some companies have long-lasting relationships with their advertising agencies, others often find themselves changing agencies more frequently. Decisions to switch ad agencies can be driven by a variety of factors including increases in the client’s size, changes in the markets it serves, reorganizations that lead to changes in top management, and/or changes in its advertising strategy or philosophy. One company that found itself changing agencies quite frequently during the past 10 years is Gateway,which is one of the world’s largest computer companies.
Founded in 1985, Gateway was a pioneer in the buildto- order, direct-marketing segment of the personal computer business. The company’s chairman and CEO, Ted Waitt, started Gateway on his family’s cattle farm in Iowa and built it into a multibillion-dollar company. The Holstein dairy cows on the Waitt farm inspired the company’s distinctive and nationally recognized logo and the cow-spot patterns on its boxes.The spots serve as a constant reminder of Gateway’s midwestern roots and the company’s values: hard work, honesty, friendliness, quality—and putting people first. Until 1993, Gateway relied solely on print advertising that was produced in-house. However, as the company’s rapid growth continued, it decided to add television ads to the media mix and to retain the services of an outside agency to work with its in-house advertising department. The agency, Carmichael Lynch of Minneapolis, hired a New York commercial director and filmmaker,Henry Corra, to direct the first Gateway commercials. Ted Waitt liked the unscripted, folksy ads that Corra was shooting, with their emphasis on “real people,” and the visionary entrepreneur and artist developed a strong personal relationship. As Gateway grew and its international sales increased, the company decided it needed a global agency. In 1997 the company moved its account to D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.However,Waitt quickly became dissatisfied with DMB&B’s traditional campaigns and dropped the agency after a year. He brought back Henry Corra to work on Gateway’s advertising with a new agency, DiMassimo Brand Advertising, a small but aggressive creative boutique. Corra and the new agency produced a number of unscripted TV commercials throughout 1998. However, that same year Jeff Weitzen, a former AT&T executive, was brought in to run Gateway when Waitt decided to step back from the day-to-day operations of the company. The new CEO quickly moved the entire Gateway account again—this time to McCann-Erickson, one of the largest agencies in the world. McCann worked on the Gateway account for three years and developed the “People Rule” campaign, which included actor Michael J. Fox as a spokesperson and also featured Waitt touting the company’s services for small businesses. However, in January 2001, Weitzen resigned as CEO and Waitt once again took the helm. A few days after Waitt resumed control of the company, Gateway dismissed McCann-Erickson as its agency. A Gateway spokesman described the parting as “amicable,” while McCann viewed the dismissal as part of the wholesale changes and management shake-up that accompanied Ted Waitt’s return. A few days later several agencies made presentations to Waitt and the vice president of advertising for Gateway’s consumer business, including former agency DiMassimo Brand Advertising; Fallon, Minneapolis; and Siltanen/Keehn. However, Gateway decided to move its advertising back in-house. Once again, Ted Waitt turned to his friend Henry Corra to direct the company’s commercials.While Corra continued to direct and shoot the TV commercials for Gateway, the company also began working with yet another agency, Siltanen/Keehn, whose founders worked on Apple Computer’s “Think Different” campaign at TBWA/Chiat/Day. After working with Gateway on a project basis for five months, Siltanen/Keehn became the company’s agency of record for print and broadcast advertising in early 2002.
The relationship with Siltanen/Keehn was also shortlived as Gateway parted ways with the agency after only 10 months and moved its account to the Arnell Group, New York. The change was part of Gateway’s decision to move away from the folksy, rural image and brand itself as a more modern and hip company. The new advertising tagline is “Gateway a better way” and the ads show computer users in a series of vignettes with an urban look and feel. Gateway is also touting a new logo as the old one,which featured a cow-spotted shipping box, has been replaced. The new logo is a computer power button rotated on its side to form a stylized “G” but still retains a hint of a cow spot. However, the talking cow has been retired and Gateway feels that it has found the right image for the future as well as the right agency. Hopefully the company will no longer have to keep looking for an udder agency.
