1/8 - Fitzco Independence Day

Dave Fitzgerald gathered the agency one November '97 morning in our main conference room on the 5th floor of the Buckhead Plaza building.

Dave, who founded Fitzgerald & Company in '83, nervously stood before a packed house to announce he had decided to do what so many independent agency owners of that era were doing -- he'd sold to a holding company, Interpublic. We would retain our brand name, would merge with McCann’s Atlanta office, and would now be a phone call away from best-in-class experts in every conceivable marketing discipline, anywhere in the world.

I was a pretty green account guy at the time, and my first instinct was to think it all sounded pretty exciting; I’m with an agency I love, and now I can claim a connection to one of the most storied agency brands in the world, too?

But I was pretty good at reading a room, and this particular room was clearly saying “kid, this is going to suck, so don’t be the naive newbie who tries to convince anyone otherwise.”

Back then, Buckhead was flooded with dive bars – the perfect neighborhood for an agency to work and play. (Good luck finding a cocktail under $20 anywhere near there now.)

Those Buckhead bars had seen it all, but were ill-prepared for this particular version of late-morning debauchery. No ¼-page b/w newspaper or any other late-90s ad unit would be produced that day. Our people, many of whom had grown up at Fitzgerald and coveted the unique agency almost everyone in Atlanta wanted to work for, were devastated. Independence and innocence, lost. Dave reporting to a New York City boss. A gear in the McCann machine. Party over.

….

This past Wednesday, January 8, 2020, we gathered the troops at our Brady Avenue home in West Midtown. Over 20 years later, Dave stood before a packed house once again, this time to announce that he’d bought his agency back. While we would maintain a unique and valued affiliate relationship with McCann, we were McCann no more.

Among those scattered far and wide who worked for and with Fitzco over so many years, there has been a surge of support that’s bordered on euphoria. One email forwarded to me referred to the news as a Hollywood ending for Dave and the Fitzco brand. I take issue with the ending idea, but I dig the sentiment.

Among those who work for and with Fitzco now -- shock, of course, at totally unexpected news. An understanding, too, that with independence comes plenty of questions to be answered. But above all, optimism -- an instant and innate desire from our people to show the world that a liberated Fitzco can and will be the best Fitzco yet.

….

Anyone who’s met Dave Fitzgerald knows his trademark response when asked any variation on the question “How are you?” His answer, always, is “Best day of my life.”

So, as Fitzco returns to independence, we’ll hold ourselves accountable to doing everything we can to help make every day the best day of our employees’, clients’ and partners’ lives.

That is, after all, the spirit that made Dave’s agency respected, successful and coveted enough for Interpublic to want it in the first place.

So much more to come...