ABR 2011: G2 USA
John Paulson
Principal: John Paulson, CEO
Ownership: Grey Group (WPP Group)
Offices: 56 wholly owned globally; 6 in US
Capabilities
John Paulson, CEO of G2 USA, says the agency is at the latter stages of an evolution that began in 2009, when the company combined its four distinct units: G2 Branding & Design, G2 Direct & Digital, G2 Interactive and G2 Promotional Marketing.
“I was tasked with helping drive the integration of those four separate companies into one in the US,” he says.
Accounts
The Hertz Corp. hired G2 as its digital AOR at the end of 2010 — one of five significant pieces of new business for the agency in the last six months. The other new wins, all in the first quarter of 2011, are Southwest Airlines Co. (promotions and locally-activated events); Ally Financial (CRM); Weight Watchers (CRM); and Caesars Entertainment (promotions).
Existing clients GlaxoSmithKline, Heineken and Aetna also expanded their mandates with G2.
Staff
G2 made a number of staff changes on its roster to aid the reorganization. Earlier this year, Wendy Lurrie, president of the G2 Direct & Digital division, left the organization while management put in place a new team.
Bruce Henderson from Ogilvy & Mather joined as chief creative officer, a new role in which he oversees all the discipline practices. It also hired Eric Pakurar, head of planning and strategy, and named three new regional GMs.
Performance
“Last year was the best year in the history of G2 from a business performance standpoint,” says Paulson.
While the agency won a number of new accounts last year, the goal in 2010 was to engage existing clients in a broader scope than they originally hired the agency for. “Looking out to 2011, our stated objective is about top-line growth, bringing new organizations into the fold,” he says.
