Fallon wins ad business from Nestle, Purina, Totino's and Boston Market

Fallon Minneapolis is having a great year.

The agency, which had a meltdown of sorts in 2008, has gained four big wins in the first two months of 2009 – the latest being Nestle Beverages, which has asked Fallon to create advertising for unannounced new beverage products.

In 2008, the agency saw the departure of many major ad clients and a move to new office space, which involved a literal meltdown; to note its rebirth, the agency transformed a pile of old awards into a lump metal emblazoned with a simple slogan – “We are Fallon.”

While the addition of Fallon to Nestle’s agency roster doesn’t have the panache of a big-budget brand-name assignment, the secrecy surrounding the announcement and Nestle’s $1 billion-plus annual ad budget could spell good news for Fallon.

“From our earliest meetings, Fallon brought insight and understanding to the new world of beverage marketing,” said Alfonso Gonzalez, vice president of Nestle Beverages, in a news release.

“Fallon seems to have a grasp on today's consumer who expects more from a brand than a simple transaction. We expect Fallon to create value beyond brand communications,” Gonzalez said.

Other new Fallon clients announced this year are Boston Market, Totino’s brand frozen pizza and pizza rolls and Purina’s ALPO brand dog food.
Nikki Meirath and Edie Burge, spokeswomen for Fallon and Nestle Beverages, respectively, refused to comment on the Nestle product or products for which Fallon could create advertising.

Switzerland-based Nestle sells a variety of consumer beverages and beverage-additives, including Coffee-Mate, Jamba Juice, Nescafe Clasico soluble coffee, Nestea, Juicy Juice, Nesquik milk powder and syrups and – most recently – Nespresso brand premium coffee and coffee-makers, along with a just-launched rollout of U.S. boutique storefronts.

Nespresso has established itself across Europe as a premium workplace coffee with so-called “pod machines,” which brew a cup of coffee one serving at a time from aluminum capsules that hold a servings worth of grounds.

What’s this have to do with Fallon?

Plenty, perhaps. In the past, the agency has worked with omnipresent coffeehouse Starbucks, which last month introduced its own premium soluble, or instant, coffee in the United States.

The agency handled package design and advertising for Starbucks shelf-stable Frappuccino brand sweetened coffee drink and canned Starbucks Doubleshot brand coffee.

The agency already creates advertising for a number of Nestle Purina pet foods, including Beneful, Dog Chow, Purina One and corporate strategic branding in the United States and Latin America.