The global expansion of Fallon McElligott has been a long time
coming - and there has been plenty of heartache along the way. Yet Pat
Fallon, the agency’s chairman, refuses to let someone else take the
strain.
A strong competitive urge and loyalty to his clients keeps him
motivated.
’I am involved on a real basis,’ he says, ’and the trust is
reciprocated. We get very far into our clients’ business and the further
we get, the more economic value we contribute.’
Fallon is still full of the enthusiasm that inspired him and his
partners to set up an agency on 20 July 1981. But it has always been a
measured enthusiasm - they spent a whole year planning the start-up in
order to do business properly from day one. Even though the agency had
no clients at the time, a financial officer was already in place because
Fallon and the others wanted their business to have ’backbone’.
Ethics are as important to Fallon as business plans. ’You need talent,
but you need more than that. You need to be working for the same reasons
and aiming at the same quality standards and be sure of how you are
going to treat people,’ he says.
The family element is also important. When Michael Wall and Robert
Senior, the managing partners of the London agency, originally pitched
their views on a London office, Fallon says: ’They killed us with their
first slide.’ It was a picture of their families and was introduced with
the words: ’This is what motivates us.’
Fallon is reluctant to go into details of his own biography. His ego
needs feeding as much as anyone’s he says, but it doesn’t thrive on
personal publicity and he isn’t big on doing lunch either. He was
brought up in Minnesota and has never contemplated settling anywhere
else, although he did venture to Leo Burnett in Chicago when he started
in the business. He completed Burnett’s two-year training programme in
one year and headed straight back to Minnesota to work for Martin
Williams Advertising in Minneapolis.
The roots of Fallon McElligott are strong. Fallon and the co-founder and
copywriter, Tom McElligott, had worked together at their freelance
start-up, called Lunch Hour, for eight years, so they knew the chemistry
worked when they set up shop above Peter’s Grill in Minneapolis. ’We had
no clients and were so driven it was ridiculous. We had no contingency
plan that said ’fail’.’
The agency started during a recession. ’We thought it could work in our
favour - we could help our clients outsmart, not outspend, the
competition.’
Such fierce dedication has made it difficult for Fallon McElligott to
grow. Fallon admits: ’When we expanded from one to two floors I thought
the world was going to fall apart because I couldn’t see what was
happening on the second floor. I have a relentless need to have control
which has served us well, but it has also held us back.’
At the same time, Fallon has a trusting nature which has sometimes
backfired.
The agency’s first attempt at going global was an expensive
disaster.
In 1986, Ogilvy & Mather, through its subsidiary, Scali McCabe Sloves,
bought a majority share in Fallons. ’All our clients were talking about
going global and we were very naive,’ he confesses. ’We sold to someone
who faked global capability and it turned out our clients didn’t really
want it anyway.’ And what made it worse was that SMS had been Fallon
McElligott’s mentor.
It took the agency a year to see the full extent of the mistake. SMS had
lost major clients and hid the fact that one of the partners, Ed McCabe,
had quit the agency 18 months before. Fallon McElligott bought itself
out directly from the WPP chief, Martin Sorrell, in 1994 after long
negotiations.
Now, with clients including Miller Brewing Company, Lee Jeans, United
Airlines, Coca-Cola and BMW, plus a thriving New York agency and a new
London shop, Fallon is feeling more comfortable about growth, although
quality still drives the agency. ’When we are on top of our game, we are
trouble for anyone,’ he warns.
’There had never been a national, creatively-driven agency run out of
Minnesota, but what we sell is disciplined imagination and that has no
geographical boundaries,’ Fallon says, wearing his ambition and vision
on his sleeve.
Fallon says: ’There was every symptom of decay but we didn’t know it -
they embarrassed us.’
It wasn’t the last bad move he made, but, as Fallon says, ’the mistakes
are part of us’.
Not that Fallon has a parochial attitude - he spends enough time in New
York to make it worthwhile owning an apartment there, and is a regular
at the swanky Covent Garden Hotel in London - it’s just that he has
stayed with his roots.
FACT FILE
1968
Graduate trainee, Leo Burnett, Chicago
1969
Account director, Martin Williams, Minneapolis
1975
Promoted to vice-president and director of marketing services
1981
Founded Fallon McElligott Rice with four partners
1986
Sells 51 per cent stake to Scali McCabe Sloves
1993
Buys back the agency in a deal with Martin Sorrell
1996
Opens Fallon McElligott Berlin in New York
1998
Launches Fallon McElligott in London
