Unilever chooses Marlin

Two Springfield marketing firms battled for a national food-service account, and the Marlin Network came out on top.

On March 26, Marlin Network officials learned through a conference call they beat out Springfield-based Noble & Associates Inc., as well as Chicago firms Ryan Partnership and Gordon Hanrahan Agency Inc. to become the agency of record for Unilever Food Solutions, a food-service division of multinational conglomerate Unilever (NYSE: UN and UL). Unilever Food Solutions, whose parent company ranked 136th in CNNMoney.com’s Global 500 with 2011 revenues of $58.6 billion, sells products such as Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Lipton teas, and Knorr seasonings and soups.

Unilever Food Solutions joins Marlin Network’s notable client list of Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), Nestlé Professional, Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Bush Brothers Beans, Splenda and Otis Spunkmeyer Cookies.

Marlin Network founder and CEO Dennis Marlin said the deal likely puts the company – which recorded $65 million in capitalized billings in 2011 – two years ahead of its most recent five-year sales forecast. The multimillion dollar deal could boost 2012 billings by 20 percent and increase its staff by 10 percent.

He said Marlin Network, which employs 101, was invited in early January to a formal agency review with Unilever officials after completing a handful of projects for them in recent years. With the nod, Marlin replaces Unilever Food’s 12-year agency of record, Gordon Hanrahan Agency, for the open-ended long-term contract.

Marlin Network will spread work among three of its six affiliates: Marlin, The Alchemedia Project and Food IQ. All of the network’s affiliates are based in Springfield, and Marlin Network Vice President Doug Austin said landing the deal was significant because all three competitors for the account operated Chicago offices.

“It’s a really big deal, as you can imagine,” Austin said, adding that officials are planning a re-enactment of the six team members’ three-hour contract pitch to company staff.

As agency of record, Austin said Marlin Network will call the shots when coordinating marketing strategies with other agencies. “We will set the strategy,” Austin said, noting that Marlin Network works alongside several agencies in other client relationships.

Marlin said details of the deal are still coming forward as Gordon Hanrahan Agency begins to hand over work and assets to Marlin Network. Revenue projections and immediate staffing needs for the employee-owned group are still in the works, Marlin said.

“We’ll have to kind of transition into it. We’ll have to pick up some projects and (Gordon Hanrahan) will have to finish some projects,” he said, adding that the company has been easy to work with so far. “You do lose and gain clients. It’s just the nature of the world we live in.”

Multiple calls and e-mails to company officials with Unilever Food Solutions were not returned by press time, and Noble CEO Keith Acuff could not be reached for comment.

Marlin said he was pleased to learn Marlin Network was selected for the creative thinking it demonstrated in the assignment it was given during the competitive selection process.

“Our premise has always been that there is a need for creative thinking in business,” said Marlin, who formed his company in 1985 and in November ushered in an employee stock ownership plan. “People need marketable ideas for their business, and so helping bring that creative thinking to them was one of the things they liked. It wasn’t, ‘I like that ad campaign.’ It was, ‘I like the creative thinking that went behind it.’”

The company, Austin said, is going to celebrate the new account by taking everyone who was involved in preparing the pitch to an upcoming Springfield Cardinals game.

“These deals don’t happen very often,” Austin said.