Chicago lost another high-profile account to an out-of-town shop when Northwestern Mutual recently relocated its ad account from Downtown Partners to Olson/Minneapolis. But the Rustoleum ad account, now at Periscope/Minneapolis, has been quietly searching for a new agency too. And it looks as if Chicago has a fighting chance of getting back the Rustoleum business that as recently as 2006 was at the now-defunct local Greenhouse shop.

Sources say Periscope is pitching to defend the Rustoleum business, but two Chicago shops, McGarryBowen and Energy BBDO, also are part of the review.

The just-ended 2009 was a tough year for new business wins in Chicago, though McGarryBowen did pull in some nifty Kraft accounts. But just about all the city's ad shops could use some nice wins early in this new year to develop some momentum that we can only hope will continue to grow with each passing month.