A quick rise

The agency's early work for local clients attracted the attention of major national brands, and within one year, Fallon had secured an account with US West. In 1984, the agency was named Ad Age's Agency of the Year for the first time. Fallon was the first medium-sized agency to win the award, and the triumph gave the agency some pull with large potential clients. The following year, the agency won business from The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone and Men's Journal. Also that year, Nancy Rice left the agency to work elsewhere in the business.

In 1986, Fallon sold a majority share of the agency to Ogilvy & Mather subsidiary Scali McCabe Sloves. Tom McElligott resigned from the agency the following year, after a dispute over "the management of the agency regarding its creative direction." Despite the loss, the agency continued to pull in blue-chip clients and produce award-winning work for the rest of that decade.

Potholes

Then, in 1990, Fallon began to falter. It took two years and an influx of new ideas to kick-start the agency. Bill Westbrook joined as President/Creative Director in 1992. The same year, Fallon bought back the majority stake once held by Scali McCabe when O&M was acquired by WPP. In 1994, deeply in debt after the buy-back, the agency pitched tons of new business, eventually winning accounts with McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Ameritech, and Prudential. Also that year, Fallon acquired Duffy Design, known for its award-winning work for clients that included Giorgio Armani, BMW, and Coca-Cola. The company has since renamed the subsidiary Duffy.

Some of Fallon's attempts to expand did not meet with success, however. It opened a New York office with Andy Berlin in 1995, but that relationship was short-lived. Fallon McElligott Berlin lasted two years before Berlin bought back the agency.

Both Ad Age and Ad Week honored Fallon as Agency of the Year in 1996. High on these wins, the agency pitched and won business with Miller Brewing, Holiday Inn Worldwide, and United Airlines. In 1998, mere months after being awarded three Gold Lions at Cannes for its Miller Brewing work, the agency lost the account, amid criticism that Fallon was too juvenile, self-conscious and often off the mark. However, Fallon rebounded fast, securing accounts with Lee Jeans Europe, Nordstrom's, Georgia-Pacific and John Nuveen & Co. The agency then relaunched its New York office, opened an outpost in London, and launched plans to set up shop in Asia. The agency's ranks were bolstered with the addition of creatives David Lubars (HQ) and Jamie Barrett (New York office), and the appointment of Laurel Cutler, considered one of the most powerful women on Madison Avenue, to the board.

Metamorphosis