The Richards Group named agency of record for MetroNet

The Richards Group this week was named agency of record for MetroNet, the largest independently-owned fiber-optic provider in the U.S. The win for the agency comes just over three months since it signed on with Dave’s Killer Bread and just over a year after it lost 40% of its revenue due to a scandal caused by its founder, Stan Richards. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight. The agency has been rebuilding since Stan Richards, who has since stepped down, made a racist remark in an internal meeting that left the agency scrambling after losing major clients like Home Depot and Keurig Dr Pepper. A few, like Charles Schwab and Choctaw Casinos and Resorts, remained on the agency’s roster, and in the year since, the shop has added Huntsman Corp., Americaneagle.com, and the American Cotton Shippers Association, among others. For MetroNet, which operates across 13 states, Richards will handle creative advertising strategy, digital and social strategy, media planning and buying. The agency, which in the past has worked in the sector with clients including Charter, Spectrum, Comcast and AT&T Broadband, will be charged with "refreshing" the brand's look and feel, according to a press release. “Fundamentally, MetroNet is based on winning fiber-to-the-home technology, but the ground is littered with premium technologies that never made it. To grow a brand, you have to be more than better— you have to be different,” said Jerry Dow, MetroNet’s chief marketing officer in a statement. “The Richards Group is a value-add partner that can hit the ground running with a seasoned team and a proven track record of differentiating brands. They will help us find and leverage meaningful differentiation in a category that is complacent and commoditized.” The previous agency could not be learned at press time. MetroNet, along with the other recent wins, marks a significant milestone for Richards Group. Rob VanGorden, The Richards Group’s chief development officer, told Ad Age that the agency’s work over the past year has transformed it into “a brand-new shop with a 45-year record.” “We remade ourselves in 2021 as a nonprofit-owned and people-run powerhouse,” said VanGorden in an email. “That means we answer only to our clients, ourselves, and our work. There are no distant boards, holding companies, agendas, or profit goals to distract us. What other agency can say that? We encourage new voices, foster diverse thinking, and promote the best ideas—regardless of origin. That’s how we’re recovering clientele. That’s how we’re continuing to win.” In a previous interview with Ad Age, CEO Glenn Dady remarked on the significant shifts the agency has gone through internally and when striking up deals with clients. Dady said the agency provides clients with monthly diversity and inclusion reports and is open about last year’s scandal when approaching new partners. Since Richards’ departure, The Richards Group has taken on new leadership and initiatives to both bolster diversity within its employees and create a friendlier work environment, like anonymous feedback systems for employees, an inclusion, equity and diversity panel for the group’s work and initiatives to hire more inclusively. Nikki Wilson, the agency’s chief talent and culture officer, said that these programs are “all part of becoming a more progressive, inclusive TRG.” “We want our employees to know and feel that they have a place and a voice in the creative process, so that the best ideas come forward for our clients and prospective clients,” said Wilson. “We are completely committed to making our agency, culture, and hiring practices more inclusive (and accountable)—and just as diligent about making the work help, not hurt, and be a productive, additive part of the greater social conversation.” Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight. “Our clients see that the agency is doing the hard work,” said Rhonda Contreras, chief collaboration officer at The Richards Group, “infusing creativity, collaboration, inclusivity, and innovation into everything we touch—and they are our greatest cheerleaders in this effort.”

The Richards Group named agency of record for MetroNet

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