preparing his apology.
But when he saw what or rather who was inside the sleek conference room, the words died in his throat.
“Jessie? What are you doing here?”
The redhead looked up from the computer screen she’d been sharing with the elegant gray-haired woman who was his client, a confused look on her face.
“Working. What are you doing here, Nick?”
“The same.”
Quickly, their client intervened. “I see you two already know each other?” she said. “How convenient.”
“Well,” Nick said, mind whirling. “We’ve met—but only socially.”
“I didn’t even know Nick was in advertising,” Jessie added.
“Oh. Well, you’re about to get to know each other a lot better,” Phyllis said. “Nick—Jessie’s company is our new digital partner. I set up this meeting so we could discuss what our strategy will be moving forward.”
With that, the pieces of the puzzle clicked. Jessie was in charge of the agency he’d been hoping to dissuade Goddess Cosmetics from using. Suddenly his resolution to do whatever it took to win back every scrap of the Goddess business, even if it meant destroying the other agency, was no longer a challenge he was looking forward to. Instead it was a problem he’d rather avoid.
Still, business had to come first.
Putting his dreams of having a hot affair with Jessie on the back burner, he took his seat at the table.
“Yes. About that … While I’m sure Jessie and her company have plenty of experience in the digital landscape, I don’t think it’s necessary to direct as much of your marketing budget online as she is recommending,” he said, launching into his carefully prepared spiel.
“Let me stop you right there, Nick,” Phyllis broke in. “My decision to rely on Roar is not up for discussion. We had Jessie’s people do a thorough analysis of the performance of our advertising campaigns over the last few years, and we have decided that something needs to change. The materials your company has delivered are quite frankly stale, and certainly aren’t getting the results we need.”
“How can you say our work is stale? The last campaign we did for you won awards from three different competitions!” Nick said, doing his best not look at the redheaded beauty sitting next to his client.
As long as he didn’t have to speak to Jessie he could pretend she was just a troublesome competitor, and not a woman he’d like to see naked.
Phyllis sighed and fiddled with her pen. “Yes, yes, that’s true. But you used the same old tired tactics. TV, radio, magazine ads … We don’t care what the advertising community thinks. We care what our customers think. And you’re not reaching them. To do that you’ve got to be on the internet. You’ve got to speak to them on those virtual networks—like Jessie, here, does.”
Jessie cleared her throat and glanced up for the first time since he’d sat down, discomfort shining in her blue eyes. “The term is social networks, Phyl,” she said. “And, yes, you do have to be there. Our research tells us—”
“I don’t care what your research says,” Nick broke in. “My agency has been handling Goddess’ advertising for fifty-six years. I think we know what your customers want, Phyllis.”
“You’re wrong,” Jessie said.
Pushing a button on her laptop, she got out of her chair and went to stand where she could point at the chart that had appeared on the projector screen.
“See this red line?” she asked, looking directly at him, challenge vibrating in every line of her body.
“Of course I do,” he answered, trying not to notice how well she filled out the lime-green sheath she was wearing.
“That represents the sales figures for the Goddess line over the last three years. As you can see, they’ve gone down twelve quarters in a row.”
“That’s not our fault—” he started.
“I wasn’t finished,” she snapped. A new slide replaced the old—this one a bar graph.
“This slide shows us how sales have been affected by advertising efforts. As you can see, profits actually went down after the launch of the last campaign—and stayed there. Obviously something isn’t working.”
Nick was silent for a moment. She had a point. He knew she did. But since he’d only gotten control of the Goddess account two months ago those numbers didn’t reflect what his team was capable of.
“I am aware of that. But I’ve hired a new creative team and we’re working on materials that will mitigate the problem.” He turned his attention to Phyllis. “Give us three months and I promise you you’ll see a big difference. The things we’re working on are like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”
“Good, good … I’m glad to hear it,” Phyllis said, a pained smile on her face. “But I don’t have three months to wait. We’re launching a new product line in six weeks, and I need a big campaign to introduce it to the marketplace.”
Nick’s heart plummeted. “New product line? Well. That’s interesting.” Thinking fast, he continued, “That’s not much time, but I’m sure my team can handle it. We’ll have to work night and day, but I am confident we can have some concepts for you to review within the week.”
“No need, no need. Jessie already has it figured out. Her team has come up with a dynamite campaign.”
Nick glanced her way, his blood boiling. She had just made his life—and his plan to get the agency back on track—a great deal more difficult. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Okay—good. You’ve got digital handled. But we’ll still need to get the print ads going, and TV, and probably some direct mail. You can’t launch a product without investing in traditional advertising.”
“All in good time,” his client said, leather creaking as she leaned back in her chair. “But there’s no need to rush. We’re going to put our entire marketing budget in the digital space for the launch. Then, after we’ve gotten a foothold there, you guys can do your stuff.”
Nick swallowed, unable to believe what he was hearing. “So you don’t want Thornton involved in the launch at all?”
“I think what she’s saying is that Roar is in charge and you should follow our lead,” Jessie said, squirming in her chair.
“You’re trusting Roar with this? No offense, but I think that’s a huge mistake.”
“Be that as it may, Jessie’s got the helm on this one,” Phyllis said, getting up from her chair. “Make sure whatever materials you eventually present are in line with what she’s doing. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to move on to my next meeting. I’m sure you two have plenty to talk about, so feel free to stay as long as you like.”
And with that she was gone.
Nick stared at his adversary, wishing she wasn’t so damn attractive.
