Pensacola advertising heavyweights - Appleyard, Duncan McCall - to merge

Pat Dodson opened his Pensacola advertising agency in 1958. John Appleyard started his own firm a year later.

"They were competitors, and they were friendly, and they were friends,'' Dick Appleyard said of Dodson and his father's relationship. "But they were not buddies. They weren't pals."

Dodson's daughter, Deborah Dodson Drozdowski, chuckled when she heard what Appleyard had said.

"Friends but not buddies,'' she said. "Thats a great way to put it."

Today, the legacies of these pioneering Pensacola admen are merging. Well, their partial legacies are merging − both Dodson and Appleyard have grand legacies outside of advertising.

Yet now, Duncan McCall − a well-known and veteran Pensacola advertising firm that traces its lineage to the old firm of Dodson, Craddock and Born, which was formed in 1961 - has merged with the Appleyard Agency, the firm John and Eleanor Appleyard started nine years after moving to Pensacola in 1950. The new firm, complete with a new logo, is now simply Appleyard Duncan McCall.

The partners of Appleyard Duncan McCall are Dick Appleyard, his daughter Leslie Appleyard Ryan, Bryan McCall and Michael Duncan.

The two firms didn't have to go far to meet in the middle. Both have long occupied suites in Cordova Square - the Appleyard Agency in Suite 34, Duncan McCall in Suite 11.

"He would be tickled pink and excited about it,'' Dick Appleyard said of his father's reaction to the merger. And, he added, both his father and Dodson would be writing about the news "on manual typewriters."

Pat Dodson, served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War conflict and died in 1975. He was only 45 years old. A lengthy Pensacola News Journal editorial following his passing was headlined "Pat Dodson Produced an Inspiring Legacy." The editorial never mentioned his advertising firm − his influence and accomplishments in Pensacola was that immense.

John Appleyard, a World War II veteran, died in 2020. He was 97 years old. A front-page tribute dominated the front of the News Journal, and again, Appleyard was spoken of not just as a great adman, but as a great Pensacolian.

Imagine if the men were still here for the merger.

"It would have been two alpha males coming together,'' Drozdowski said. "It would be two families coming together. It definitely would have been two historians coming together."

Both Appleyard and Dodson were historians and authors. Appleyard wrote more than 120 books and monographs on Northwest Florida history and earned more than 100 Freedom Foundation awards. He authored a 30-part history series for Cox Cable and the Escambia County School System. In his later years, Appleyard also wrote a popular history column for the Pensacola News Journal. His love of local history was sparked in 1959 when he became director of Florida's Quadricentennial celebration.

Dodson was also a prolific author and poet. Near his death, he was finishing a historical novel about the Creek Indian heritage and served on numerous historic boards, including the President's Council on Historic Preservation and the Florida American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. He was also instrumental in the reconstruction of the Tivoli High House in Seville Square and the Fort George Monument on Gage Hill.

"They both worked in the same field at the same time,'' Dick Appleyard said. "But Pensacola was big enough for both of them."

McCall and Duncan launched their advertising firm in 1994 and in 2000 merged with Dodson, Craddock and Born becoming DC&B/Duncan McCall. In 2004, the firm became Duncan McCall.

Appleyard, Duncan and McCall became friends years ago while working on Pensacola tourism advertising in cooperation with other local firms.

"That's when we really got to be friends,'' Appleyard said. "It was really good for the advertising community to kind of pull together and that's how our relationship grew."

While acknowledging the history and roots of the firms started long ago by Appleyard and Dodson, the partners today say they are focusing on the future.

"The history is cool, but the point is that we're trying to position ourselves to be the best going forward,'' McCall said. "We've always been on the forefront of whatever technology is being brought into advertising and in the past 10 years or so it has been all digital driven. I think together we can just do more."

Appleyard also said that the merger would make the new firm strong, with each bringing unique talents and capabilities to the team.

"What Brian and his team do is very different than what we do,'' he said. "We were both strong before, this just makes us stronger and allows us to face the challenges of the future."

There is one thing the new partners have to settle. Which office in Cordova Square will they call home? Right now, they're working out of both, just a short walk away. The decision hasn't been made, but Appleyard said it will probably be the Duncan McCall space because it's larger, but that either office complex would do.

Either way, it's a day that few could have seen coming decades ago.

"I love it,'' Drozdowski said. "I think it's wonderful these two agencies have come together. They'll be better and be able to offer expert work in everything from radio, TV and billboards to all the new technology that's so important. I think it's a great accomplishment."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Appleyard Agency, Duncan McCall both have roots in 1950s.