Dickies, the innovative work and lifestyle apparel brand, today announced legendary firm Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P) as its first ever full-service advertising agency of record. The agency will work collaboratively with Dickies to develop distinctive, lasting marketing campaigns beginning in 2010. The announcement is a hallmark in the brand’s 87-year history, marking the first time the company will utilize an agency to provide expert creative guidance. GS&P will also provide strategic media planning, production, digital marketing, e-commerce and account management support.

After an extensive ten-month search process, GS&P was selected from more than 50 leading agencies because of their keen grasp of the Dickies brand and the importance of its esteemed heritage. The award-winning agency, known for such classic works as the “Got Milk?” and Budweiser Frogs campaigns, previously developed work for Nike and also represents Hewlett-Packard, Frito-Lay, Sprint, Nintendo Wii, Häagen-Dazs, Quaker, and the NBA, among other renowned brands. Initial Dickies brand work from GS&P is expected to run in the second half of 2010. Omnicom sister agency BBDO will support the brand’s international advertising efforts.

“Dickies is a proud, independent brand and we need the perfect partner to help market our image to consumers in a way that doesn’t alienate our loyal brand fans,” said Tad Uchtman, senior vice president of marketing, merchandising and licensing for Dickies. “We’re very pleased to have GS&P join our stable of marketing partners and look forward to seeing the dynamic creative concepts and strategic media plans they develop for us.”

Dickies has conducted thorough consumer research over the past several years in order to better understand the brand’s reach across the apparel and accessories industry. Findings have demonstrated that the Dickies brand is sought out by a broad spectrum of consumers because of the durability, quality, value and innovation inherent in each piece of Dickies apparel. The breadth of product offerings plus the company’s no-nonsense, unpretentious image appeals to customers from the typical American working hero to cubicle workers and fashion trendsetters. As a result, demand for Dickies crosses generational and socio-economic boundaries, whether found in the closet of a musician, construction worker, nurse, college student or weekend warrior, to name a few.

Historically, Dickies has managed creative advertising in-house, developing memorable and targeted efforts like the long-running “Legend In Work” and current “Wear With Purpose” brand campaigns. The announcement allows Dickies’ in-house creative art department to focus more strategically on the company’s retail marketing goals for the future.

Dickies chose to align with one of the strongest, industry-leading advertising agencies in order to best communicate their unparalleled position within the marketplace as the brand expands globally to reach a broadening consumer base ranging from work to after work apparel customers.

"We could not be more excited to work with Dickies,” said Rich Silverstein, co-chairman of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. “It’s not very often that you are provided the opportunity to work with an 87-year-old company. Dickies' values of hard work, toughness and pride sync nicely with our own.”

In addition to their new partnership with GS&P, Dickies also works with several other industry-leading agencies for their various marketing needs. Edelman serves as the company’s public relations agency of record; Norm Marshall & Associates supports the brand’s product placement and celebrity seeding efforts; Hornall Anderson provides brand strategy and guidelines; Landor develops package design; and Millward Brown supplies strategic market research.

Terms of the new agreement were not disclosed. Jones Lundin Beals, Inc. consulted with Dickies on the agency search process. Dickies previously worked with Mullen for media planning and buying.

About Dickies

The Dickies brand has a strong and proud heritage of providing tough, quality clothing to American workers for more than 87 years. Over that time, the company has grown from the U.S. Bib Overall Company in 1922 to the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company. From overalls to World War II U.S. military uniforms to its iconic Original 874 work pant and much more, Dickies is the global leader in innovative work apparel while also meeting consumer needs for quality after work clothing at a great value. The Dickies portfolio of apparel includes men’s and women’s work pants, shorts, shirts, denim, outerwear, school wear and an extensive licensing program, all backed by a lifetime guarantee. The company operates through subsidiaries in North America, Canada and Europe as well as exclusive distributorship around the world.

About Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, a unit of the Omnicom Group, is one of the world's most respected and most awarded advertising agencies. Founded in 1983, the company is based in San Francisco and has over 500 employees serving a broad array of national and international accounts, including Hewlett-Packard, Frito-Lay, Häagen-Dazs, CMPB ('got milk?'), Adobe, Sprint, NBA, and many others. For more information go to GS&P.

About BBDO Worldwide

BBDO’s mantra is “The Work. The Work. The Work.” In 2009, BBDO was named Network of the Year at Cannes for the third year in a row, and is both the world's most awarded agency network according to The Gunn Report, and the most awarded global agency network across all marketing communications discipline in The Big Won Report. It is also Campaign Magazine's Advertising Network of the Year. BBDO is a member of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC)

About Omnicom Group Inc.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

About Jones Lundin Beals, Inc.

Established in 1973, Jones Lundin Beals, Inc. is a global consultancy whose mission is to help its clients maximize the productivity and value of their marketing agency relationships. Core services include agency search and selection, agency compensation, and agency performance management. Jones Lundin Beals is based in Chicago with an office in New York and affiliate offices in London, Beijing, Mumbai, and Singapore.