RPA Works Toward the Agency of the Future

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--RPA, a leading independent advertising agency on the West Coast, recently unveiled a new internal rallying cry—“Unite. Create.”—to fully define the agency’s approach to its work now and in the future. This identity further evolves the agency’s dedication to fully integrated marketing.

RPA’s collaborative creation process builds on the agency’s strength of housing every discipline under one roof, enabling in-house expert Associates to work as a team to create comprehensive integrated strategies.

To help lead RPA under the “Unite. Create.” philosophy, the agency announced two executive promotions. Pete Imwalle, formerly SVP, General Manager, Interactive, will now oversee the agency’s brand integration across all disciplines as SVP, Director of Brand Integration. “Integration and collaboration are not new to RPA. My new role and process have been put in place to make collaboration easier and more systemic,” said Imwalle. Upon the retirement of 22-year RPA veteran Chuck Valentine at the end of the year, Brett Bender, VP, Management Supervisor, is poised to lead the Honda account as SVP, Account Director.

“RPA’s positioning and commitment to our core team process will enable us to effectively and efficiently plan, create and execute the best ideas on our client’s behalf in today’s fragmented media world,” said Bill Hagelstein, EVP, COO at RPA.

In October 1986, Omnicom was born with the merger of BBDO, DDB and Needham Harper. Since Omnicom would house two other car accounts, three was deemed a crowd. RPA came into being—now the fifth-largest independent ad agency in the U.S. with clients that include Acura, Honda, La-Z-Boy, Pharmavite’s SOYJOY, MGM and Zatarain’s.

Without shareholders, RPA has no pressure to adhere to short-term, quarterly financial results that burden publicly held companies. By staying independent, the agency is able to invest in new resources to help clients stay ahead of the curve. RPA’s integrated philosophy has been recognized by several prominent industry awards including MIXX’s “Best in Show,” OMMA magazine’s Agency of the Year Award for “Best Creative,” the Yahoo! Big Idea Chair and the Google Marketing Machine Award.

As visionaries, cofounders Gerry Rubin and Larry Postaer have remained agile and attentive to the ever-changing ad industry. This approach, along with the strategic insight to build an integrated agency, have contributed to the agency’s success—more than one billion dollars in billings. For more information, visit http://www.rpa.com.