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| Osborn & Barr was formed in 1988 with Monsanto as its founding client. The company's slogan is, "We create belief." - Friday, January 15, 1999
Osborne & Barr to harvest Monsanto's ag marketing - St. Louis Business Journal - by Rick Desloge | | Submitted by fedup | 2008-03-17 11:19:41 | www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/1999/01/18/story5.html
Monsanto Co.'s decision to consolidate its agricultural marketing at fewer agencies is producing a windfall for Osborne & Barr Communications.
Meanwhile, the deal means the death of the St. Louis office of Sargent & Potratz, a Wisconsin-based marketing firm that has been handling Monsanto's agricultural work for the past decade.
"We're going to close the office April 1," agency principal Dean Potratz said.
Osborne & Barr is taking over nearly all of Monsanto's agricultural advertising and public relations -- on which the life sciences company spends more than $30 million a year.
"We're in the process of staffing up," said Steve Barr, principal and co-founder of Osborne & Barr.
Barr and his partner, Joe Osborne, were working out details with Monsanto on the new assignment for the 80-person agency. They declined to discuss revenue from the new assignment, but the shift could bring as much as $600,000 a year to the firm. That's how much Sargent & Potratz reported in 1997 from its St. Louis operations, where Monsanto was its only client.
Barr and Osborne have been closely tied to Monsanto since they started their agency in 1988. Barr had been a marketing executive in Monsanto's agricultural division, and Osborne was overseeing Monsanto ag advertising with a New York agency.
The Monsanto assignment likely boosts Osborne & Barr to among the largest agricultural advertising agencies in the United States. Company officials declined to disclose revenue. Other firms of its size generate roughly $5 million to $7 million in revenue, based on advertising industry data.
Sargent & Potratz still has more than 30 employees working on other business out of its Wisconsin office. The marketing firm set up its St. Louis office a decade ago and it grew to 13 people, ranking No. 11 among area public relations firms based on 1997 revenue.
Patrick Quinn, Roundup brand manager for Monsanto, said the shift would give Osborne & Barr additional marketing assignments in the southern United States and assignments for specialized herbicides. Monsanto's key agricultural products are its Roundup Ready and Bollgard technologies, genetically enhanced seeds sold to farmers, as well as Monsanto's traditional herbicides, Lasso and Roundup.
Quinn said the consolidation was not related to Monsanto's failed deal with American Home Products Corp. Rather, the agricultural group was trying to shorten its list of outside suppliers.
Quinn declined to say how much of Monsanto's $30 million in agricultural marketing would shift from Sargent & Potratz. But he said the agricultural division continues to work with Petrik-Smith, a St. Louis sales promotion firm.
About half of Monsanto's agricultural marketing spending is in newspapers and television. Competitive Media Reporting pegged Monsanto's agricultural spending at $16.4 million for 1997 and at nearly $11 million for the first nine months of 1998.
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The agency now represents other agricultural brands such as John Deere, United Soybean Board, the Cattlemen's Beef Board/National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Pork Board. " Steve Barr is the CEO. Barr and Joe Osborne, are the founding partners of Osborn & Barr. [1]
Osborn & Barr helped form the pro-RBGH, grassroots farmers front group American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT) in February, 2008. The group was funded in part by Monsanto, manufacturer of RBGH (also known as Posilac). [2]
Barr and Osborne had close ties with Monsanto prior to forming the Osborne & Barr marketing agency. Barr was a marketing executive in Monsanto's agricultural division, and Osborne worked for a New York advertising agency and oversaw Monsanto's agricultural advertising.
In 1999, Monsanto turned over nearly all of its agricultural advertising and public relations business to Osborne & Barr, on which, according to the St. Louis Business Journal, the company spends over $30 million per year. The change turned Osborne & Barr into one of the largest agricultural PR firms in the country.[3]
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Contact
Osborne & Barr
St. Louis Office
One North Brentwood
Eighth Floor
St. Louis, MO 63105
Phone: 1-888-235-4332 or 314-726-5511
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References
1. ↑ St. Louis-based marketing agency Osborn &Barr Communications is set to tackle a distinct set of agrimarketing issues ... this time, north of the border Agrimarketing.com Northern Exposure, March 2004
2. ↑ Martin, A., New York Times Fighting on a Battlefield the Size of a Milk Label Business section. March 9, 2008
3. ↑ Desloge, Rick. St. Louis Business Journal Osborne & Barr to harvest Monsanto's ag marketing January 15, 1999
www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Osborne_%26_Barr
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The campaign for Monsanto corn
www.osborn-barr.com/Work.aspx?swf=campaigns/dekalb.swf
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