Response Magazine - June 2008

QA

^By ^TC^hoa^mb^ar^si^Hn^ah^irea⁽, ^{thDaiaren@iqeulesotenx.cR}^ome⁾minisce and Look Ahead Mercury Media’s 20th anniversary doesn’t mean the company’s long-time leaders are looking for an exit plan anytime soon.

Direct response media buying giant Mercury Media is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2008, and its long-time leaders, co-chairmen John Cabrinha and Dan Danielson (who purchased Mercury from founders Marilyn Carr and Richard DuBois in 1991), have overseen exponential growth. Just more than a year ago, Mercury expanded its empire, forming Mercury Media Holdings (MMH) after merging with Massachusetts-based ARM Direct. The company now boasts more than $350 million in annual billings for both long- and short-form DRTV clients — a giant leap from the $12 million in billings when the duo took over. Recently, Response caught up with Cabrinha and Danielson to talk about the company’s two-decade milestone.

What’s the most memorable moment of Mercury Media’s first 20 years? John Cabrinha: What am I going to bring up that isn’t negative? I remember all the bad news! Dan Danielson: No kidding! Seriously, though, last year we did $194 million in long-form media, which was incredible. I remember once, when we hit $350,000 a week for the first time many years ago, John said to me, “I’ll shave the Mercury logo into the side of my head if we ever bill $500,000 in a week!” Cabrinha: Now, we had one week in 2007 where we billed $5.4 million. That’s one of the most gratifying moments from a strict business standpoint. Of course, aside from that, there’s been the personal aspect — watching our people grow, personally and professionally. Growing up in the agency, getting married, having babies. It’s gratifying because we’ve always valued a family atmosphere. Danielson: There’s no doubt that our relationships with our employees and clients have been the most rewarding experiences. We’ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 employees over the years. Many of them were in their first jobs, and we got to know them, got to have an impact on their careers, and many have stayed with us.

Cabrinha: And a lot of those who left want to come back!

What have been the biggest surprises to you in the past two decades? Danielson: Our growth has been a surprise. Being in this business for 20 years is also quite an accomplishment, I think. Look at how many people and companies have fallen by the wayside. Cabrinha: When we first came to L.A. with Mercury (from their roots in Northern California), we told ourselves, “Once we get to $50 million in billings and 25 employees, we’ll move back to the Bay Area.” We hit that about 10-12 years ago, and here we are — still in L.A. I think the biggest surprise has to be our ability to continue growing. Back in the 1990s, we thought $50 million a year was as big as we could get.

What do you consider the most successful campaign you’ve worked on and why? Cabrinha: It’s hard to quantify success. I mean, go to the ERA (Electronic Retailing Association) Awards once and you’ll see just how subjective that is. I mean, to some people, you might have a successful show — but, then again, how many orders did the show achieve?

Danielson: The beautiful part is that we’ve worked with clients who spent $5,000 a week and were successful and others where they spend $1.6 million a week. We’ve had some clients for 20 years, and we always have brand new ones. The array of companies and people we’ve worked for keeps the business interesting — Fortune 1000 companies, widget guys, entrepreneurs. It’s most rewarding to see those entrepreneurs grow a business in direct response.

How does the formation of Mercury Media Holdings affect the company’s outlook for the next 20 years? Danielson: We considered the deal for about two years. It’s a great deal because we’ve gotten the perfect sister company with ARM. We are long-form specialists here, and they bill $150 million a year in short form. We can now go into a pitch and talk about both long- and short-form strength. Our goal a decade ago was to be able to sit across from a client and offer every possible media service. Through this deal, we got closer to that goal. Cabrinha: Administratively, the deal gives us greater depth and the ability to focus on our core business. It allows us to spend more time on strategy and look-