Barkley Sweeps New Business With Wins From Big Lots, Coleman and Dairy Queen

KANSAS CITY, MO--(Marketwire - Jan 3, 2013) - Kansas City-based Barkley, the nation's largest employee-owned advertising agency, announced today that it has been named Agency of Record for Big Lots. The agency was awarded the Big Lots business after a competitive review, which included multiple other agencies.

This news comes on the heels of an impressive new business streak for the agency; in addition to Big Lots, Barkley was recently awarded two additional significant new business wins, Dairy Queen and Coleman, Inc.

Big Lots, Inc., the country's largest broad-line closeout retailer, has hired Barkley as AOR to handle full-service advertising and marketing duties including brand strategy, and broadcast, print and in-store executions. Barkley will also partner with Big Lots on web strategy and execution.

"Big Lots delivers amazing value to our customers every day," said Rob Claxton, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Big Lots. "Barkley understood our strengths but also developed ideas that will help us get more credit for our value proposition. They really pushed us and the ideas were backed up by strong strategic insights."

"These wins are a direct reflection of the passion and talent of our people. We have built an amazing team here and it's exciting to see it pay off," said Jeff King, CEO of Barkley.

Barkley has had tremendous growth in the last two years, increasing its bottom line by more than 50 percent with a diverse client roster. In 2012, Barkley won the following accounts: Dairy Queen, Big Lots, Coleman, Sprint, Quiznos, Gabriel Brothers, Edible Arrangements, Fruit 2.0, and Applebee's PR. Barkley's research and insights into QSR and retail, new-school creative approach, and in-house innovation lab Moonshot, were key to these wins.

About Barkley
Barkley believes that creativity and innovation can change the world. As the nation's largest employee-owned advertising agency, they are fiercely independent and committed to adding GOOD. Barkley's goal is to help build the biggest future possible for their clients. They provide fully integrated advertising services as well as specialized services through four partner companies: Crossroads, PR and Cause Marketing; Blacktop, Branding and Design; Barkley REI, Interactive Marketing; and Grenadier, Strategic and Creative. For more information, please visit http://barkleyus.com/

About Big Lots, Inc.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) is a Fortune 500 company with more than 1,450 stores in 48 states and over 80 Liquidation World and LW stores in Canada. As North America's largest broadline closeout retailer, Big Lots offers consumers a wide range of bargain-priced merchandise, including brand-name closeouts, seasonal products, consumables, furniture, housewares, toys, and gifts. The Company also sells merchandise through BIG LOTS WHOLESALE, CONSOLIDATED INTERNATIONAL, WISCONSIN TOY, and www.biglotswholesale.com.