 Texaco, which was experiencing image problems due to bankruptcy, was the firm's first major corporate client.In 1993, Penn, Schoen & Berland was engaged by AT&T's new advertising agency FCB to guide a response to MCI's "Friends and Family" plan, an upstart competitor for AT&T's long-distance services.To help AT&T understand how best to counter MCI's strongest messages, Penn created the "mall testing" methodology for competitive advertising research.