• San Francisco Chronicle, Monday, April 23, 2007 10:45 AM

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, one of the largest and most established ad agencies, has undergone a "wrenching shift" into new media. The agency, creator of the legendary "Got Milk" campaign, has managed what the newspaper calls a "stunning transformation," thanks to the forceful direction of its co-founder Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein.

"I told them, 'If you want to work here, you have to be able to do all these things,'" Goodby said, referring to the wide variety of new media devices. "I told them, 'You have to be our eyes and ears into the new world." In addition to hiring 109 new people with interactive backgrounds, today, roughly 54% of Goodby's work is largely based on the Web. In May 2005, that figure was 17%.

The agency's endeavor to change resulted in a flurry of new clients, as well as the retention of old ones. Goodby expanded its "Got Milk" campaign with an interactive Web site and advergame, while producing video ads with celebrities Vera Wang and Jay-Z for HP. In all, the agency added $300 million in billings in 2006; earlier this month, the shop won Sprint Nextel's account, which could represent some $1.2 billion in media spending, and then Hyundai North America, worth some $600 million, doubling the Omnicom Group unit's total billings.

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