ad agency marries john travolta, reconsiders

Ad agencies are as much a brand as any client they might represent…which is why the Minneapolis shop formerly known as Kerker, named after 1960s ad man Dick Kerker and a solid regional shop known for solid, regionally-relevant creative, is re-branding.

The shop has moved from suburban Edina to the Northeast neighborhood of Minneapolis, right across the Mississippi from downtown and definitely part of the vibrant, urban core of the city.

While the move is important in that it was kind of embarrassing to be the largest agency not in a cool part of town, the key change is the name change. Kerker is now Preston Kelly, after head creative Chris Preston and owner Chuck Kelly.

The original idea, to satisfy Kelly’s ego, was to put his name first…until they realized that it would be pretty silly to name an ad agency after John Travolta’s wife and reconsidered. Ego comes second to looking ridiculous…at least in this case.

kelly preston

kelly preston

Not to mention the fact that they would never win the SEO battle for their own company name.

3 responses to “ad agency marries john travolta, reconsiders

  1. Minnesota nice work

    I was at their old offices a few years ago, and I have to agree they were not in the most inspiring place. Even the agency itself was quite quiet and sterile that morning. Though this agency does do good, design-conscious work.

    I used to work in an agency in a typical suburban office building, and though we did good work, every morning I felt like I was going to a dentist office for the day.

  2. Pingback: Preston Kelly Newsroom » The real story behind the name change

  3. Kelly is gorgeous. Too bad she is a senior member of the brain washing cult known as Scientology.

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