This week, sources sent us a couple of tips about which agencies are (allegedly) leading two of the industry’s larger ongoing pitches.
First: three weeks ago we learned that Royal Caribbean planned to follow a series of regional changes by launching a global creative review. Incumbent JWT was invited to participate, and sources told us that the agency would be involved in some capacity.
Now a tipster claims that a certain big-name agency has been gunning hard for the business and may, in fact, be in a good position to win. Why? Because that shop’s top creative worked on the very same account while at a different agency almost a decade ago.
Over in the food and beverage aisle, Hershey announced in January that it planned to expand its creative roster while retaining both Arnold and Havas in order to “get ideas from a broader range of agencies” and help “diversify the work.”
Another source now tells us that a major West Coast agency was invited to pitch the chocolate brand along with several competitors. Hershey previously assigned digital to Havas while Arnold handled TV duties but, moving forward, the company would like to bring the two together to create a “world-class team.”
If that’s the case, then this agency would be a good choice: they’re very active in both digital and traditional TV and, while they don’t count any major candy brands among their clients, they have extensive experience in the fast food sector.