The Richards Group, now known as TRG, is an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

in Dallas, Texas. The company was recognized as an Adweek Agency of the Year in 1988, 1990, 1994, and 2002. TRG’s “We’ll leave the light on for you” radio campaign for

Motel 6 Motel 6 is an American chain of motels with locations in the United States and Canada. The chain was founded in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962 by William W. Becker and Paul Greene, and derives its name from the fact that rooms initially cos ...

was named one of the “Top 100 Ad Campaigns in American History” by

Ad Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...

magazine before the agency lost the business due to a racism scandal. Its “Farmer” TV ad for

Ram Trucks Ram Trucks (stylized as RAM) is an American brand of light to mid-weight pickup heavy duty trucks and other commercial vehicles, and a division of Stellantis North America (previously Chrysler Group LLC). It was established in a spin-off o ...

was one of the highest-scoring Super Bowl spots in USA Today’s 2013 “Ad Meter” ranking. The

Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A, Inc. ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in Chicken burger, chicken sandwiches. Headquarter ...

cows created by TRG were inducted into the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame in 2007. In October 2020, following racist comments made by the agency's founder, Stan Richards, the company lost two of its longtime clients, Motel 6 (34 years) and Home Depot (25 years); other clients also decided to leave the firm, including

Keurig Dr Pepper Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. ( ), formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1979–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, and ...

, the brewers of Shiner Bock beer and grocery chain

H-E-B H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, is an American privately held company, privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, with more than 435 stores throughout Texas and Mexico. The company also operates Central Market (Texas) ...

. Richards (who had recently delegated most day-to-day management of the firm to his senior creative directors as part of a previously announced succession plan) resigned from the firm soon thereafter. The agency handled advertising, public relations, and promotions for clients, in addition to sports/entertainment marketing for colleges and universities. In 2022, the agency changed its name to TRG in an attempt to distance itself from Stan Richards, and to signal a change in direction. The agency moved after Stan Richards and Scot Dykema, the manager of a partnership called SBR Holdings, which owned the building, sold it to a group of commercial real estate investors.

History

In 1953, Stan Richards began doing freelance design work in Dallas. The company became a full-service advertising agency in 1976 and in 1986, Motel 6 was signed as a client. In 2016, The Richards Group took AOR (agency of record) for

Blue Bell Creameries Blue Bell Creameries is an American food company that manufactures ice cream. It was founded in 1907 in Brenham, Texas. For much of its early history, the company manufactured both ice cream and butter locally. In the mid-20th century, it abandone ...

. In 2018,

Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...

selected The Richards Group as its creative agency of record. In 2020, The Richards Group and Motel 6 ended their relationship over racist remarks by the agency founder. Home Depot also dropped The Richards Group following the founder's racist remarks. Several other clients left The Richards Group after the racist comments. In 2020, Stan Richards resigned from The Richards Group and Glenn Dady took over as the CEO. TRG projected an ad for Choctaw Casinos onto the Leaning Tower of Dallas. In 2021, TRG hired Sue Batterton as the first Chief Creative Officer and Nikki Wilson as Chief Talent and Cultural Officer. In 2022, The Richards Group rebranded to TRG relocated its headquarters from Uptown to The Stack, Hines’ office/retail project at 2700 Commerce in Deep Ellum. TRG hired a new chief financial officer, Michelle Gardner, to oversee the firm’s accounting team and worked with actor

Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong ( ; ; born July 13, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the NBC sitcom ''Community'' ...

to create a campaign for Thermacare. In 2023, TRG created new spots for Dave’s Killer Bread, supporting second chance for incarcerated employees, and for Choctaw Casinos featuring former Dallas sports stars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards Group Advertising agencies of the United States Companies based in Dallas Business services companies established in 1976 1976 establishments in Texas