This story has been updated
Stanfield’s ad account is returning to Nova Scotia.
The underwear brand has selected the Halifax-based Extreme Group as its new agency of record, marking the end of nearly 10 years with the Toronto-based John St.
The account changed agencies without a formal RFP. According to Stanfield’s president Jon Stanfield, the brand presented both agencies with a new line of strategic thinking and had them pitch concepts.
“I felt we should make a change in our approach, get some new ideas and new energy around our brand,” Stanfield explained. “I felt, all things being equal, I would prefer to work with a Nova Scotia-based company, because that’s where we’re based.” he said. (In the late nineties, Stanfield’s worked with the Atlantic agency McArthur Thompson, which later became MT&L Advertising & Public Affairs, and still counts that its founder Bill MacArthur as a consultant.)
“It’s easy for either side to hop in a car and be in each other’s facility talking. I think it will lead to better thinking, strategic execution and better timing of approvals,” he said.
Stanfield, who also leads the brand’s marketing, said he’s met with Extreme Group consistently over the years and watched closely as it opened a Toronto office and gained experience working with national brands.
John St.’s work for Stanfield’s was both popular and critically acclaimed. It gained attention from the international ad community at Cannes and earned Stanfield’s a spot on Marketing‘s own shortlist for Marketer of the Year in 2013.
While working with John St., Stanfield’s became known for its annual stunts, which included sending a hitchhiker (“gitchhiker”) across the country in his underwear and challenging consumers to streak for men’s health.
“I have nothing but good things to say about [John St.], but I felt new eyes and new energy was what we needed,” Stanfield said. “I like them, and they did some good things for us, for sure.”
Moving forward, Stanfield’s plans to market more frequently instead of pushing one major event a year. “We need a longer extension of time with our brand in front of both our customers — who are the retailers — and the consumers in the market,” he said.
Extreme Group president Shawn King said the agency will help Stanfield’s evaluate how often and when the brand goes to market with new work. He said he’d like to see future marketing focus more on the quality of the product and find a way to blend the brand’s legacy with creative that’s relevant today.
“It’s a 160-year-old brand, that’s a pretty interesting challenge,” King said. “It’s the underwear all the hockey players wore. The military wore this stuff to war. It’s got these incredible stories and qualities of the product that have to [become] relevant to some degree.”
In a written statement, he added, “I really respect Jon Stanfield’s decision to bring his marketing and advertising back to Atlantic Canada. It’s a great step and a great vote of confidence for the great work we can do. Personally, I’m excited as hell to be working with him and this legendary brand.”
UPDATE: After this story was published, Marketing spoke to John St. president and CEO Arthur Fleischmann about the Stanfield’s account and his agency’s legacy with the business.
Fleischmann clarified that while there were discussions of new ideas for the Stanfield’s, there were no formal pitches and John St. did not do any spec work. In fact, John St. was never aware that the account was in play, Fleischmann said.
“We would like to set the record straight that John St. was not aware we were defending the business, nor did we present any concepts. We think doing free speculative work is detrimental to the industry.”
Fleischmann said he respects Stanfield’s decision to bring the account closer to home and stands behind the work John St. did on behalf of the brand.
“John St. is proud of the award-winning and business-building work we’ve done for Stanfield’s for the past 10 years,” he said. “We wish Extreme and Stanfield’s the best of luck.”
