Merge and Purge

The merger of Arkansas two largest advertising agencies has caused a rift between Northwest Arkansas’ two largest cities.

Fayetteville’s plan to renew its advertising contract with Blackwood Martin/CJRW means Springdale will lose the advertising agency as its promoter.

Previously, the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission used Blackwood Martin of Fayetteville, and the Springdale Advertising & Promotion Commission used Cranford Johnson Robinson & Woods of Little Rock.

A merger in March means Blackwood Martin and CJRW are now one entity.

“We pretty much gave them the directive that if you’re going to represent Fayetteville, then you can’t represent Springdale,” says Joe Fennel, a member of the Fayetteville Ad-Promo Commission.

Fennel says Fayetteville’s advertising agency shouldn’t be sharing information with the city’s competitor to the north.

“We’re going after the same clients,” he says. “I don’t think it’s a good way to spend taxpayer money and represent our restaurant people in Fayetteville.”

So Springdale, which has a contract with the Little Rock office that runs through October, is getting the boot.

When contacted about the flap, Perry Webb, president/CEO of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, would say only that the commission would probably discuss the issue when it meets May 4.

But we hear that some Springdale officials are hot about the situation, which they consider less than neighborly in an era when “regionalism” is supposed to reign. They’re also somewhat amazed that anyone in Fayetteville would feel threatened by Springdale’s promotional efforts. Springdale’s annual contract, after all, is just $60,000 — one-fourth the size of Fayetteville’s.