McGarryBowen of NYC will be taking the reins as Burger King’s newest American creative agency, according to an article in Ad Age. If the change holds true it marks the end of an era, with CP+B and Burger King parting ways after a seven-year relationship.
So what other agencies were gunning for the account? Some of the other agencies in the running included Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann Erickson as well as a consortium of agencies from WPP including Oglivy & Mather (which handles Burger King in Brazil). What makes the entire process even more interesting is that, according to the Ad Age article, the review took place while the CMO position remained vacant.
One of the reasons for the change was to reverse the declining fortunes of Burger King in recent years, which have seen same store sales decline in 2009 (at the height of the recession) to their most recent quarter results. The task for McGarryBowen will be to right the Burger King ship and increase their same store sales in the face of recent internal changes to the marketing department of the company and the fragile nature of the US economy.
McGarryBowen started up in 2002 on the core tenet that clients deserve better. They run a lean, smart ship that focuses on eliminating anything that isn’t essential to the task at hand. Creativity is not limited to any one position, but is the thread that connects everyone who works at McGarryBowen together, helping to grow their clients’ business.
In 2008, McGarryBowen Dentsu acquired the agency and this marks the second win in as many weeks with their Chicago office recently being tapped to handle the creative duties for Sears.
Credit: Ad Age
Note: McGarryBowen has a pretty stellar win streak, can’t wait to see where you take the King next guys.