Omnicom & McDonald to build Agency of the Future
McDonald’s spent $820 million on U.S. advertising in 2015, according to Kantar Media, which doesn’t count some forms of digital advertising.
McDonald’s Corp. consolidated its creative agency business with Omnicom Group in an effort to form a dedicated agency group and bring its media and creative accounts under the same roof.
After a closely watched review, the change ends the fast-food giant’s 35-year-long relationship with Publicis Groupe ’s Leo Burnett agency in the U.S.
Omnicom will be McDonald’s new partner for all of its U.S. national marketing initiatives, Deborah Wahl, chief marketing officer of McDonald’s USA, said in a statement. Omnicom will work with McDonald’s to build a new “agency of the future,” she said. “In selecting this agency, we will have access to top talent, technology and thinking with digital and data at the core.”
McDonald’s spent $820 million on U.S. advertising in 2015, according to Kantar Media, which doesn’t count some forms of digital advertising.
While the McDonald’s decision is a big loss for incumbent Publicis, it’s good news for the creative team at DDB and DDB’s chairman emeritus Keith Reinhard, who was behind the famous “You Deserve a Break” tagline and catchy “Two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions, on a sesame seed bun” song.
Leo Burnett was behind the famous “Nothin but Net” ad in which Michael Jordan and Larry Bird compete for a Big Mac.
Despite the agency change, the “I’m Lovin’ It” tagline will live on, McDonald’s said.
McDonald’s has been trying to find a way to continue to grow sales after an initial bump from all-day breakfast offerings started to cool. The fast-food chain is experimenting with new products in different markets and new ways for customers to order and pick up meals. – Article published on WSJ
