What do President Barack Obama and Argentine politician Francisco de Narváez have in common?
They were both helped to victory by AKPD Message and Media.
AKPD, which tops the Chicago Current’s ranking of Illinois campaign consultants, is in an enviable position.
The Obama victory burnished the 12-person consultancy’s reputation to the point that calls are now rolling in from overseas.
And the firm’s local business is strong enough that it’s in a position to devote resources to campaigns abroad, says senior partner John Kupper.
“Most of the candidates and parties have local media people who are much more conversant with their domestic political situation and advertising,” Kupper says. “What we can bring to it is a certain perspective and approach in terms of research and messaging. We let them translate it into what works best in their own vernacular.”
Also topping the Current’s consultant rankings for 2009 are Philadelphia’s Shorr Johnson Magnus, as well as local consultancies Grainger Terry Inc. and Adelstein | Liston LLC.
The rankings are based on campaign expenditures received by the firms, as reported by Illinois and U.S. House candidates. The revenue totals do not include expenditures in U.S. Senate races, income from consulting activities that are not tied directly to political races, and work related to campaigns outside Illinois.
Consultants are quick to note that much of the money reflected on campaign reports goes to media buys, with the firm holding on to a small portion as a commission.
Kupper says 2009 was a strong year for AKPD, despite the departure of co-founder David Axelrod.
The firm represented U.S. Senate candidate David Hoffman, state comptroller candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi, Gov. Pat Quinn and Jim Epstein, a candidate for state appellate court.
“You want to win them all,” says Kupper. “We had four races and won two.”
Of the two wins, Quinn’s was the hardest fought.
“It was a very tough race,” Kupper says. “We were pleased and gratified that Gov. Quinn prevailed.”
Kupper says the poor economy led to a tough year for campaign fundraising, particularly because so many leading Illinois donors stretched their pocketbooks to make sure Obama won in 2008. That’s had an impact on the firm’s business.
“Our compensation is commission based,” he says. “In some cases we’ve adjusted our fee structure in order to accomodate the difficulty that candidates are facing in raising money and getting their message out.”
Despite the tough economic climate last year, Kupper says he expects AKPD will maintain a strong list of local clients in 2010.
“We’ve always had a fairly promiment role in Illinois and Chicago political races going all the way back to Mayor Daley’s 1989 mayoral race,” he says. “While we continue to do a fair amount of business around the country and lately even internationally, Chicago will always be home, and we will always want to be involved in local and state politics.
Adelstein | Liston, ranked fourth on the Current’s list, also saw its business impacted by the economy, with candidates raising less money and spending less on media, which means lower commissions for consultants. Even so, the firm now employs 14 people, up from its 2008 payroll.
“We’re in a fortunate position. Our business has been growing. Despite the economy, we’re actually ahead of pace,” says co-founder Eric Adelstein.
He says the firm is working to deal with increasingly fragmented audiences, which makes it harder for candidates to reach voters.
“That’s an obstacle every campaign faces,” he says. “The opportunities are in the new-media sphere. We’re able to do longer-format pieces on the Internet. That’s an opportunity that confronts us all.”
Though AKPD brought in nearly three times as much revenue from Illinois candidates as his firm, Adelstein says having such vital competitors in Chicago helps everyone in the sector.
“David Axelrod was one of the true pioneers who showed you could have a thriving national media consulting firm outside of D.C. I think it’s terrific, what they have done,” he says. “I have tremendous respect for their work. There’s plenty of business out there.”
Hodas & Associates, a five-person firm in Springfield, was one of two downstate consultancies to make the top 10. Glenn Hodas says 2009 was a good year because some of his clients have started doing prep work for their campaigns between election cycles.
“They’re doing polling, photography, video,” he says. “A lot of the clients have started thinking more long term, which has been fortunate for us.”
Even so, Hodas says the economy took a toll.
“Nobody is going to be able to run the magnitude of campaign they ran a few years ago,” he says. “Candidates just don’t have the same amounts to spend that they had in past years.”
~ Chicago Current staff writer Adrian G. Uribarri contributed to this report