As Eliot Tatelman exits, Jordan's Furniture taps MullenLowe as its ad agency

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Tatelman was not only the star of the ads, he also helped write the copy. Now, that task will be handled by the scribes at MullenLowe.
It was an account that everyone in MullenLowe's Boston office wanted a part of, Cartagena said. Cartagena is based in the firm's New York office, but he grew up in Bolton and is all too familiar with the Jordan's shtick: As a kid, his parents dragged him along for furniture shopping to a Jordan's store with the promise of watching an IMAX movie there.
'We had to win this thing,' Cartagena said of his agency's attitude about pitching Jordan's for the gig. 'I knew that if we won this, everyone is going to go out to make sure it's a success.'
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Over the years, brothers Barry and Eliot Tatelman became household names throughout much of New England thanks to their ads, ubiquitous and often quirky. They sold the company to Berkshire Hathaway in 1999, and Barry Tatelman walked away roughly seven years later.
'In a way, they were kind of trailblazers in advertising, especially Eliot,' Cartagena said. 'Eliot was the one writing all this stuff.'
Now, MullenLowe has an opportunity to reinvent Jordan's for a new generation of furniture buyers. Cartagena said he expects to watch old Jordan's ads to see what ideas can be gleaned for the new campaign. For now, the details are under wraps: He wouldn't say when the campaign would begin, but admitted that MullenLowe crafted a new tagline for the company that it aims to roll out.
'Partnering with MullenLowe is an exciting new chapter for us,' Linda SanGiacomo, senior vice president of marketing at Jordan's, said in an email. 'It builds on Jordan's legacy of doing things differently while bringing in fresh creative energy to help connect with a new generation of customers.'
It's unclear how much longer Tatelman will appear in Jordan's ads. MullenLowe is still figuring out the best way to transition into the new era.
'The last thing we want to do is just go dark on Eliot,' Cartagena said. 'I think you would have a mutiny in New England.'
This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston's business scene.
Jon Chesto can be reached at

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