Hilton Worldwide will follow the lead of other large companies like Verizon and Kraft in consolidating its agency work without a formal creative review.
Most immediately, this means that Publicis Kaplan Thaler will no longer be agency of record for its Homewood Suites business.
The statement from PKT:
“We have been privileged to partner with Hilton Worldwide to create both strong, and effective, work. As they consolidate their advertising efforts, we wish them well in the future.”
PKT won the account, which had been with FCB for a decade, in 2011 and proceeded to create work such as “No Place Like Homewood Suites,” last year’s Olympic campaign, and “Slam Dunk,” which was part of a series of ads that aired later in 2014.
What’s not clear at the moment is how the move will affect Hilton’s other agencies of record: FCB lost its last piece of the business in 2012 when Y&R won AOR duties for the Hampton lodging chain, and that win came just over a year after Cramer-Krasselt beat out Y&R for the Hilton Hotels work. GSD&M won the Hampton business last August while Y&R currently handles both DoubleTree and Embassy Suites.
Hilton has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Updates when we get them.