How Cliff Freeman plans to shed its TV-only rep; Hopes to define itself as digital player via idea lab and Snapple webisodes.(News)

Byline: WILLOW DUTTGE

Some say cliff Freeman & Partners needs new business. Cliff Freeman believes he needs a Subservient Chicken.

Perhaps they're the same thing. The marketing world is driven by perception as much as reality and increasingly it's obvious to PR-savvy agencies that a single command-taking chicken, "Art of the Heist,'' or BMW Film can go a long way toward luring modern marketers. So perhaps it's unsurprising that 19-year-old Cliff Freeman & Partners-known for, quite literally, launching gerbils and wolves into TV history-is looking for a digital success story to change the shop's reputation as a 30-second-funnies house.

"If we had done Subservient Chicken, we never would have had this conversation. It only takes one thing,'' said Cliff Freeman, chairman-chief creative officer. The agency's TV spots for clients including Little Caesars ("Pizza Pizza''), Fox Sports, Outpost.com and Staples, among others, are extraordinarily well known, but some of its most talked-about campaigns are far from current.

None of those four signature clients are currently on its roster, which now includes Snapple, Shoney's and CBS. And while some of the agency's work, particularly for Snapple, is getting buzz, the name Cliff Freeman is not usually part of the same creative conversation as Droga5 or Crispin Porter & Bogusky.

All of which brings the agency, which claims $100 million in billings, to a crossroads. "Some agencies that have been absolutely known for television, it will be sort of evolve or die,'' said David Eastman, CEO of Agency.com, "because money and eyes and consumers are moving away from TV.'' Of course, TV still takes the majority of ad dollars, but in today's increasingly digital-centric media environment, the shop's success with TV is a disadvantage. "People don't have a lot of time. They just label you as one thing,'' said Mr. Freeman.

A new brand name isn't the answer. "It would be one of the moronic blunders of the world to get rid of a brand that has such a national reputation,'' said Jeff McClelland, Cliff Freeman's CEO. "Doing the work for clients is what will change ...