Erich & Kallman wins Gulf States Toyota account and opens Austin office

Gulf States Toyota has appointed Erich & Kallman as its creative agency of record, and the new client becomes the agency’s largest account. The group is the second-largest independent distributor of Toyota vehicles and parts in the U.S., with 150 dealerships. The agency will be responsible for regional work in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. The decision was made following a five-month pitch process and represents a consolidation with one creative agency. For 10 years, Gulf States Toyota worked with two agencies for creative and digital work, said Steven Erich, co-founder of Erich & Kallman. Both Erich and the client declined to comment on specifics of incumbents. It's believed Gulf States Toyota last worked with Boston-based agency MMB as its lead creative agency since the agency won the account in 2011 and launched work for the client as recently as 2023. It’s unclear who held the digital account. Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi handles Toyota’s national creative. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here Toyota Tundra One major focus of Erich & Kallman’s work will be marketing Toyota’s Tundra trucks, which Erich said is one of the top sellers in the region. The agency created a regional Super Bowl ad for Tundra—centered on getting to a destination in time for kickoff—that is airing in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Cindy Hamrick, Gulf States Toyota Marketing VP, said she was impressed by the agency’s ability to find consumer and brand insights and turn it into unique creative. One of the keys to winning the account, according to Erich, was not being afraid to show spec work during the process. “We’re not ones for theatrics,” Erich said. “The amount of work we’re able to show in a fast period of time, and then adjust when we get feedback, is greater than anyone I’ve ever seen, so we showed a lot of work, we adjusted the work, and we showed a lot more work.” That process has led to a lot of creative that will be produced moving forward, Erich said. Last year was a challenging new business year for the industry as a whole, which makes this win even more special, he said. The agency will also work across other products within the Toyota portfolio and aims to reach key audiences in the Gulf States region, including Hispanic audiences. Erich & Kallman has done Hispanic-focused work for brands such as General Mills and Great Wolf Lodge in the past and has intentionally been adding more bilingual and diverse employees, Erich said. Andrew Speyer, who joined in late 2023 as its chief strategy officer, is bilingual and previously held executive roles at multicultural agencies. New office Coinciding with the win the agency is opening an office in Austin, Texas, its first space beyond San Francisco. Erich & Kallman had poked around with the idea of one day opening an office in Austin, decided to pull the trigger in the middle of the Gulf States pitch process and told the client about the decision. The Austin office will handle most of Gulf States Toyota's account moving forward. “When we were in the pitch process Eric [Kallman, the agency’s other co-founder] and I were like, ‘Why don’t we open an Austin office, whether or not we win this, because we know there’s great talent there and we know that clients are moving there as well,’” Erich said. The Austin office will have a mix of current and new employees. Erich & Kallman is onboarding a dozen new hires, including unnamed senior leadership. The Austin location will also look to pitch for and add new clients in the future. Some of Erich & Kallman’s other key clients include Amazon Prime Video, Hershey, iRobot, Realtor.com, and Take 5 Oil and Car Wash.The agency’s Super Bowl commercial for Hershey’s Reese’s brand was ranked one of the best by Ad Age. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

Erich & Kallman wins Gulf States Toyota account and opens Austin office

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