• Adweek, Tuesday, February 21, 2006 11:16 AM

After years spent consolidating their business with a single ad agency, a growing number of marketers are now shifting gears and spreading their creative assignments among a number of shops. The list includes blue-chip advertisers like Walt Disney Parts & Resorts, Motorola, Macy's, Sony Electronics, and PepsiCo. These clients appear to prefer choice and a bit of interagency competition to the relative ease of one-stop shopping. "Why would an advertiser look to be putting all its eggs in one basket?" said Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers. "A diversity in agency relationships might be a better approach." Many of these marketers have adopted a fixed strategy and simply need a flexible number of agencies to execute the work. "We like the idea that there are different [creative] approaches," said Michael Mendenhall, executive vice president of global marketing at Disney, who described longtime agency Leo Burnett and newcomer mcgarrybowen as "equal partners" on the brand. "We are looking for the best creative against our strategic program."

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