Dickie’s, a longtime favorite of factory workers and skate punks everywhere, may soon be looking for a new ad agency partner.
The classic blue-collar clothing brand has ended its relationship with AOR Creature Seattle after four years and could soon launch a creative review.
A client spokesperson writes, “At this time Dickies does not have an agency of record for creative work.”
The company did not provide further information regarding a possible creative review. But based on recent shifts in its marketing strategy, we would say that most signs point in that direction.
Dickie’s, or the Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co., was established in 1922 to make “workwear” for Texans, but a January 2015 Adweek story focused on recent efforts by the company (along with competitors like Carhartt) to appeal to a younger, hipper audience. This almost certainly means more money for marketing, and the company does not appear to have a full in-house creative team.
Creature was co-founded by W+K veteran Matt Peterson and Jim Haven of GS&P, StrawberryFrog and more. It won the business in a 2012 review that pitted it against Denver’s Vladimir Jones and other agencies, then proceeded to create a series of campaigns like this 2013 anthem effort starring eggs, bacon, toast and “blue-collar pants.”
The indie shop, which was AdAge’s 2014 Small Agency of the Year for the Northwest region, went through an executive shakeup of sorts early last year when its president James Keblas— a local politician who spent nine years as director of Seattle’s Office of Film + Music before being fired by the city’s mayor in 2014–left agency life after one year to start a consulting agency called City Inspired and return to the political arena.
Creature does not appear to have replaced Keblas at this time.
More information to come from Dickie’s.
[Image via Dickie’s homepage.]