Arby’s Restaurant Group, a subsidiary of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, has selected BBDO New York as its national agency of record. The announcement comes following a five-phase review by Arby’s executive team and franchise leaders that began in August and included four creative agencies across the country. Creative will remain within Omnicom Group and BBDO succeeds sister shop Merkley + Partners NY. The other contenders were Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners Sausalito, CA, WPP’s Young & Rubicam NY and Havas’ Euro RSCG Chicago.
Media was not part of the review and stays with Interpublic Group’s Initiative.
Arby’s said it will introduce a new marketing campaign during late Q1 2011. It spent $100 million on measured media last year, per Kantar Media.
“The selection of BBDO New York is an important step in our Turnaround Plan. They demonstrated a clear understanding of the Arby’s brand, our positioning and our target customers,” said Arby’s President Hala Moddelmog. “Their creative work brings to life our positioning, ‘Exciting tastes you can feel good about … every day’ in ways that will resonate with consumers. We are very excited about the talent that they bring to making Arby’s a relevant and contemporary brand.”
