Veteran Adman Ready for Challenge of L.A.

It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure.

Most people recognize that line as the advertising slogan for the U.S. Navy. And Phil Slott, the guy who wrote the Navy’s familiar advertising theme years ago, says he’s about to embark on a real adventure.

Slott has been named chairman and chief creative of the Dallas ad agency Tracy-Locke. So where does the adventure come in? He has been assigned to work in the agency’s Los Angeles office--historically a slow-growth office in an increasingly competitive market.

“We are bullish about our ability to grow in the Los Angeles market,” said Slott, 45, who was most recently chairman and chief executive of the London office of the big New York advertising agency, BBDO Worldwide.

Theodore S. Burnett Jr., who has been president of Tracy-Locke’s Los Angeles office for two years, will now be leaving the company. “There can only be one leader,” said Burnett, who said he expects to stay in the advertising business in Los Angeles.

The latest move is an attempt by the $350-million agency to expand from being regarded as a regional ad shop to more of a national ad firm. Although it only has full-service offices in Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta, Tracy-Locke ranks as the nation’s 26th-largest ad agency. It is owned by the Omnicom Group, a New York holding company comprised of several ad agencies.

The Los Angeles office opened three years ago primarily to create ads for client Taco Bell, the Mexican fast-food chain. Taco Bell accounts for the bulk of the Los Angeles shop’s $100 million in billings, although the agency also creates ads for Princess Cruises. Like most of the area’s newer agencies, it has had a tough time picking up new business.

Slott said he has already begun working in Los Angeles and is on the prowl for new clients. “We recognize that Los Angeles is very competitive,” said Slott, “but I’m not afraid of competition.”

Perhaps Slott already knows the secret to success in the Los Angeles ad market. After all, he’s the one who penned this commercial line for a former client, Dry Idea deodorant--”Never let them see you sweat.”