Hasta La Creative!

PespiCo has launched a closed creative review for its Pepsi brand in the U.S., open only to Omnicom agencies.

“Omnicom has been our longstanding partner because we value the diverse array of agencies and talent they have under one roof,” a Pepsi spokesperson said in a statement. “We continually evaluate the best ways to market our brands, and in the U.S. on brand Pepsi, we are once again looking within Omnicom for custom creative solutions.”

We reached out to Omnicom shops Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, DDB, TBWAChiatDay and BBDO. The latter agency deferred to the client, while the other three agencies have yet to reply.

Omnicom has primarily handled work on the Pepsi brand in the past. In recent years, however, the brand has not restricted itself to Omnicom agencies and has worked with agencies outside the network, including Mekanism. In 2008, PepsiCo shifted lead creative duties from BBDO to TBWAChiatDay for the brand after over 50 year with the former shop. BBDO started working with the brand again in 2015.

Greg Lyons was promoted to chief marketing officer for PepsiCo’s North America Beverage Division at the beginning of the year.

Retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is currently the largest such chain in the U.S. and trails only Walmart in overall market share, has named a new chief marketing officer.

Scott Hudler joins the Pittsburgh-based company exactly two months after its former CMO Lauren Hobart became president.

Before making the jump, he spent more than a decade in marketing at Dunkin’ Brands, the Dunkin’ Donuts chain’s parent company. Hudler began in brand marketing and eventually moved into the SVP, chief digital officer role last year. He previously held several positions at Mars including brand manager for Snickers.

Hudler now reports to Hobart, herself a veteran of PepsiCo’s North American carbonated drinks division.

You won’t be surprised to learn that the announcement focuses on Hudler’s digital experience as Dick’s—and every other retail company—moves to adjust to the new reality of online sales. During his tenure, Dunkin’ emphasized mobile and digital assets like a loyalty program and order-ahead platform.

Dick’s currently operates more than 800 physical stores and an ecommerce platform. In terms of sales, it is well ahead of nearest competitor Academy Sports + Outdoors, which picked FCB Chicago as its first creative AOR after a review last January.

The big question for this blog, of course, is what will happen to Dick’s current agency roster. Anomaly has been creative AOR on the brand since 2012, with Huge handling social and MKTG INC on events and experiential work.

According to the latest numbers from Kantar Media, Dick’s spent around $90 million on marketing in the U.S. last year.

French automotive brand Citroën sent its global creative account to Havas network’s BETC, which subsequently launched a dedicated agency called Traction.

The integrated Traction agency will be dedicated to servicing the Citroën client globally, led by BETC Paris presidents Bertille Toledano and Stephane Xiberras.

“To have the opportunity to take the creative lead of such an incredible automobile brand, that has produced legendary creative campaigns, is an honour and a great responsibility,” Xiberras, whose title for Traction will be executive creative director, said in a statement published by LBB.

Arnaud Belloni, Worldwide Chief Marketing of Citroe?n, says:”I grew up with the imagery of Citroe?n iconic communication items, with the chevrons, the aircraft carriers, and the ‘revolutionaryr men.’ We want to use the spirit of its past as inspiration to foster its revival and bring the brand back to modern values,” added Citroe?n’s head of marketing Arnaud Belloni.

The Citroe?n account has been with the Havas Network for around thirty years, most recently residing with Les Gaulois. In 2014, the agency highlighted a dog’s stretching routine and channelled 70s car chase scenes in a pair of spots.

Traction will officially open its doors on October 1, with a location on “the third floor of Les Magasins ge?ne?raux in Pantin,” accoding to LBB.

The Campbell Soup company has shifted creative responsibilities for its Chunky brand from BBDO to Y&R without a review. The latter shop had handled the account for just over 20 years.

Sports Business Daily first broke the news this morning, noting that the parent company had “quietly moved” the business. BBDO deferred to the client for comment.

“BBDO has been a valuable agency partner to Campbell for many years and has done great work with the Campbell’s ‘Made for Real Real Life’ campaign and the launch of our new brand, Well Yes!,” a client spokesperson said. “We recently made the decision to transition the Campbell’s Chunky soup business to BBDO to create breakthrough work that resonates with our consumer, leverages the equity of the NFL and inspires fearless creative thinking.”

The Campbell representative also praised Y&R’s “excellent work,” noting that the client will continue to work with them “in other parts of the business” like cookies and crackers brand Pepperidge Farm and adding, “We want to thank them for their longstanding support and contribution to our Chunky business for many years.”

“Campbell’s has made a strategic marketing decision to bring all their soup brands together and BBDO will be overseeing all aspects of their future initiatives,” wrote a Y&R spokesperson. “Y&R created a unique, meaningful and enduring position for the Chunky brand, beginning in 1996 with ‘The soup that fills you up right.’ That campaign was articulated through a powerful NFL partnership and included both actors and real-life moms of NFL players which resulted in tripling the size of their business. Our most recent campaign “Everyman All-Star League” also helped drive double-digit growth for the brand.”

The statement continued, “We are proud of everything we have done with Chunky’s over the years and wish Campbell’s continued success with their all their soup brands. We look forward to continuing to work with Campbell’s Pepperidge Farm brand to further grow their global baked snacks business.”

According to the Sports Business Daily report, BBDO’s work will closely follow the mothers and sons theme established by Y&R. The new campaign, set to break in August right before the new NFL season—will consist of a series of spots starring Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly and, presumably, their mothers.

Campbell is one of BBDO’s legacy clients as the agency has worked with the company in some form since the early 20th century, developing its iconic “M’m! M’m! Good” tagline.

Y&R picked up Chunky in a “suprise” 1996 move; the account had been with now-defunct Backer Spielvogel Bates or BSB. The larger Campbell company has made some other changes to its agency lineup in recent years, most notably sending prepared foods brands Prego, SpaghettiOs, Pace and Ready Meals to Anomaly in early 2016 (there had been no incumbent on these accounts).

Surprisingly, the spending totals for Chunky are significantly lower now than when Y&R won the business more than 20 years ago. At the time, AdAge estimates put the brand’s yearly budget at approximately $20 million. Now, Kantar Media’s latest numbers have Chunky spending just under $7 million on measured media in 2015 and $8.3 million in 2016.

MEC remains Campbell’s media agency of record.

The Cannes Lions is almost over for yet another year, and you’ve probably been following the action. (What do you mean, you haven’t been following the action??)

Back in the real world, we do have some news today: AB-InBev has split with FCB and launched a creative review for its Lime-A-Rita brand.

This afternoon, Adweek broke the news that the company has issued an RFP. From a spokesperson:

“We are proud of the work that was created from our collaboration with FCB Chicago and Lime-A-Rita, which has produced a number of memorable ads since 2015. As the brand evolves, we continually look to refresh our perspective and evaluate our agency structure.”

FCB’s Chicago office had been working on the account since at least 2015, and last February helped the parent company launch the not-beer line’s biggest campaign ever with a little help from the 15-year-old Nelly jam “Hot in Herre.”

A second promo wave arrived in March, which brought a new array of flavors and the multi-spot “Margarita Moment” campaign. This effort was notable for catering more directly to women in their ’20s (who make up 65 percent of the brand’s consumer base) and involving “female-led marketing and creative teams” on both the agency and client sides. The ads were directed by Tricia Brock of Hey Wonderful, who has also helmed episodes of Girls and The Big Bang Theory, among other shows.

AB-InBev did not elaborate on the reasons for the review, but it’s worth noting that the brand provided a rare sales bounce for the beverage giant back in 2014 as its beers lost market share. Those sales dropped off in late 2015, and the new marketing efforts do not appear to have helped the brand recover.

It’s not clear at this time which agencies have been invited to the pitch. FCB representatives have not responded to requests for comment.

According to Kantar Media, AB-InBev spent around $15 million promotion Lime-A-Rita last year but shelled out less than half a million in the first quarter of 2017.

Telecom provider Frontier Communications has issued an RFP seeking a creative agency of record. New York search consultancy Roth Ryan Hayes will manage the review.

Catapult Marketing of Stamford, Connecticut is incumbent on the business, and we’re told they will defend. We do not currently have any additional information regarding the agencies invited to participate in the review.

According to the press release, “The review will seek to identify a best-in-class agency to deliver innovative brand strategies, breakthrough creative and digital capabilities, and performance marketing expertise for Frontier.”

Catapult and Frontier have been working together since 2012, and the agency created the brand mascot Frank the Buffalo. Here’s a brief case study regarding the relationship that the agency released last year.

…and here’s a recent broadcast spot.

The company specializes in providing broadband, telephone and other communications services to primarily rural areas in 29 states.

Frontier, which recently moved to expand its service area by acquiring assets owned by other telecom businesses like Verizon, announced earlier this week that John Maduri, a three-decade veteran of the industry, would become its new EVP of consumer sales, marketing and product.

Kantar Media lists Frontier’s paid media spend at $37.1 million and $25.6 million for 2015 and 2016, respectively.

A spokesperson for the consultancy, however, estimates the client’s annual marketing budget to be greater than $50 million moving forward.

Sony PlayStation has named the D.C. office of AKQA as its newest digital agency, following a review.

An agency spokesperson declined to comment on the account today, but the source who confirmed the news said the assignment encompasses web design, game trailers, digital video, UX and more.

The review is rumored to have included Deloitte’s Heat and three other agencies, in addition to AKQA. The client, which is notoriously press-shy, purportedly structured the review process so that competitors wouldn’t know who they were pitching against. AKQA’s D.C. office already counted gaming companies Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft among its client roster, and that category-relevant experience most likely factored into the win.

BBH New York has handled creative duties for PlayStation since being named lead creative agency February of 2013, following a review which included finalists Anomaly, 180LA and then-incumbent Deutsch.

It’s unclear whether the new assignment will have any impact on the scope of BBH New York’s work. The gaming giant has also worked with Johannes Leonardo and VB&P to promote the PlayStation Vue.

Toy giant Lego is in review mode.

This morning, Adweek reported on The Lego Group’s global media agency review. Several parties claimed that every major holding company with the exception of Omnicom is in the pitch, which has not yet advanced beyond the first round.

But it’s not just media—the company also recently launched a U.S. digital creative review.

Lego spokespeople have declined to officially confirm either development, stating that they regularly review all partners as a standard business procedure. But several parties have confirmed to us that the digital review is ongoing.

The company works with a variety of shops around the world and typically does not name an agency of record. Products like branded slippers and disabled figures tend to get more attention than traditional campaigns, and its most recent notable spot was this 2014 ad for girls by Union Made Creative.

The reasons for these reviews would appear to be twofold: new leadership and business challenges.

One might think, given the success of the recent Lego and Lego Batman movies, that the company would be riding high. In 2015, it sold 62 billion “elements,” or the equivalent of 102 bricks for every single person currently living in the world.

But the The Lego Group does not appear to profit directly from the movies, and sales in the U.S. (which is its biggest market) were flat last year despite a big marketing effort. Six months ago, former COO Bali Padda took over the chief executive role from Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, the current chairman who is widely credited with saving the traditionally family-run business during his decade-plus tenure.

It’s not clear at this time which agencies are pitching. According to Kantar Media, Lego spent around $85 million in the U.S. last year, and that total was nearly double its domestic marketing budget for 2015.

Denver-based fast casual chain (and Chipotle competitor) Qdoba is seeking a new agency partner and has launched a creative review, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Doner, Zambezi and Mistress are said to be among the agencies pitching for the account. It would appear that Pereira & O’Dell will not participate in the review and has parted ways with the brand as Qdoba is listed as a “Past Client” on the agency’s website.

Pereira & O’Dell had handled the creative account since being named lead creative agency in March of 2015, following a review. That October, Qdoba also turned to brand strategy and design agency Prophet for a rebranding, aimed at shaking Chipotle comparisons, that encompassed everything “from the logo to the chairs.”

We reached out to the agencies involved, as well as Qdoba, but have yet to receive a response. We will update the post if we receive any further information.

According to the most recent Kantar Media estimates, the chain is a relatively small spender, with around $6-7 million in paid media in 2014.

In case you missed it at the end of the day right before a long weekend, Japanese automaker Mitsubishi has ended its 7-year relationship with Omnicom’s 180LA.

Agency CEO Michael Allen gave Adweek the following statement:

“We are very proud of the work we have done with Mitsubishi over the last seven years, including the current ‘Re-model A’ TV program celebrating their 100-year anniversary. They just finished their most recent fiscal year, selling over 100,000 vehicles for the first time in 10 years. This is a 75 percent increase over the last four years, despite the introduction of very few new models. We wish them continued success. Our ambition moving forward remains the same—to do breakthrough work in the automotive category.”

The agency didn’t elaborate on this statement, and client representatives never got back to us—possibly because Mitsubishi recently fired its head of public relations.

Different parties described the split in different ways. One source said the agency refused to agree to client demands regarding  fees vs. workload, while another told us the automaker terminated the relationship of its own accord.

At any rate, Mitsubishi is going through a tumultuous period. A couple of months ago, Renault CEO and Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn announced that he would effectively take over the company’s recovery efforts after last year’s scandal in which employees admitted that they had manipulated fuel economy ratings in an effort to fool Japanese regulators a la Volkswagen. The company lost more than $1.5 billion in 2016.

Given that the client did not discuss the status of its advertising business after more than a week of requests, it’s not yet clear whether a formal review has begun. But according to Kantar Media, Mitsubishi spent around $82 million on paid media in the U.S. in 2015 and increased that total to $95 million last year.

180LA has been actively pitching new business since losing the global ASICS account late last year, and the same parties who alerted us to the Mitsubishi change also noted that Al Moseley, president and CCO of the network’s Amsterdam office, has been in L.A. leading an unspecified pitch.

Last month, the agency confirmed that it would be moving into a new office in Playa Vista’s “Silicon Beach” after more than a decade in Santa Monica.