pyper paul + kenney UNITE AND TAKE OVER

Tampa Bay Business Journal - by Michael Hinman Staff Writer

TAMPA — The next stop for two young members of advertising agency Pyper Paul + Kenney is Cannes, France, as they represent the United States in the 56th International Advertising Festival beginning June 21.

Jeremy Jones and Dustin Tamilio’s 30-second television spot to raise awareness of New York’s Crime Stoppers beat out more than 20 other agencies from around the country in the film category to earn their plane tickets to France for the Cannes Young Lions competition. They will join two much larger agencies from San Francisco in competing against 19 other countries. Their goal: to give the United States its first ever win in the competition.

No matter what happens in France, the real winner could already be PP+K as the young Tampa agency boosts its international profile and competes with global agencies.

Creating an international presence

“We’re representing Team USA with two goliaths of the advertising world,” said PP+K president Paul Daigle.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners of San Francisco will represent the country in both press and media, while Pereira & Odell of San Francisco will compete in the cyber division internationally.

The bigger story for PP+K is about the agencies it beat to get there, its executives said.

“When people come out of the best arts schools in the country from Atlanta or San Francisco and Los Angeles, these are the agencies they go to,” Daigle said. “They’re not going to Dunn&Co. or Pyper Paul + Kenney. But it’s the hard work, passion and sweat from these little agencies that are making a difference and allowing us to compete with the big agencies.”

When smaller agencies do well in competitions like this, it generates a lot of valuable buzz that can be translated into business and recruiting development.

The agency 22squared experienced that in 2005 when two of its employees made the Team USA and traveled to Cannes when the agency was known as WestWayne.

“You definitely can use something like this as leverage to tout the creative firepower of an agency,” said John Stapleton, executive creative director with 22squared in its Tampa office. “Agencies love to talk about the talent they have, especially on the creative side of things. So when you win an award, and especially one on an international scale, it just gives a lot of credibility.”

The Tampa Bay region is not exactly considered a traditional hub for marketing agencies, but PP+K’s and 22squared’s entry onto the world stage is trying to change that. PP+K has reached out internationally as of late, last year winning the account of Italian-based Pirelli Tyre S.p.A., a subsidiary of Pirelli & C. S.p.A.

Removing the restraints

Another trend, at least domestically, is the emerging dominance and lack of creative restrictions on younger smaller firms like PP+K when it comes to film, a still newer category for Cannes Young Lions.

“What happens in some of the younger, smaller firms is that they are giving their art director and copy editors more free range to work on all sorts of projects and not be as structured as some of the larger agencies,” said Susan Lilley, marketing manager for the advertising competition and who also works for USA Today. “These people have an opportunity to flourish a bit in multimedia, and that could give them an edge down the road.”

Going for the gold

To earn a spot on Cannes Young Lions Team USA, Pyper Paul + Kenney’s Jeremy Jones and Dustin Tamilio had one week to create a TV spot highlighting New York’s Crime Stoppers. When they arrive in France June 21, they’ll be given just a camera phone, a laptop and 48 hours to create a new spot. Last year, Team USA earned second place in the film category, the highest any American team has ever finished.