• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 13, 2012

Chris Boothe, the new CEO at Spark Communications, a unit of Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group, has been at the new job for about a week. But as an SMG insider, his learning curve isn’t as steep as it would be for someone assuming the role from the outside.

In fact, Boothe’s history with Spark -- a sister agency to Starcom, where Boothe was COO before taking on his new role -- goes back to its formation 13 years ago. He was on the task force that was created to launch the agency, which was initially named Starlink. 

Boothe has some definite ideas about where he wants to take the agency. The overarching goal is to make the shop a viable third agency network within SMG. In part, says Boothe, that means being able to pursue prospective new clients “of any shape and size.”

Until now, the agency’s client base has been made up primarily of challenger brands, mostly with spending of under $100 million. Clients include E*Trade, Delta Faucet and the recently won Avis Rent-a-Car. In addition, SMG clients that have opted to move to Spark along with Boothe are Sara Lee, Stanley Steamer and Bass Pro Shops, putting the agency over the $1 billion mark in annual billings.

Growth is job one. Part of the reason Boothe was brought to the agency as CEO was due to his new business track record at Starcom, where last year he oversaw new business wins at the agency of $2 billion. Wins included the $600 million Novartis pharmaceutical account and the $300 million Burger King account.

While Boothe says he will focus on bulking the agency up in the U.S. at least to start, that will not prevent the shop from pursuing global accounts if the opportunity arises -- with a little help from its global parents SMG and VivaKi. “If growth is the mission and if it’s a client with global needs, that’s certainly something we can put together,” he said.  

Other tasks, said Boothe, include raising the shop’s profile in the marketplace and driving innovation. The shop’s brand positioning is “Perspective Takes Form,” its take on the “Human Experience” credo that the other SMG agencies espouse. “The core essence of that will not change,” Boothe says of the positioning. “We need to amplify it a bit." 

Boothe says the agency will be adding more talent in the weeks and months ahead -- particularly in the digital space, where the shop has received a number of new assignments. “We need more senior digital leadership,” he said. And within that space, insights and analytics are areas where clients are asking more from the agency. 

Currently, Spark has about 200 employees, including the SMG client teams that just shifted to the agency. If things go according to plan, Boothe says he envisions the shop doubling in size. It may not be within the next year, but it will be sooner rather than later, he said.

Coming later this year -- sometime in the second half -- will be the opening of a New York office to service Avis and other East Coast-based clients. Plans are still in the works for exactly how big that office will be and what structure it will take, said Boothe. Beyond that, there are no current plans for additional Spark offices.