KBS Wins Monster Creative Account

By Patrick Coffee 

We’ve been asking Monster for more than three months about rumors that the job listings company would choose KBS as its new U.S. creative AOR.

Today, the client finally confirmed what we’ve known since October. Live and learn.

The press release, which describes KBS as “a global creative business partner focused on inventing and reinventing brands and businesses,” also tells us that the MDC Partners’ operation will “collaborate on integrated creative programs that will strengthen Monster’s brand across both the seeker and employer audiences.”

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Monster ended its partnership with BBDO last summer after eight years with the Omnicom network, calling for a new agency while facing increased competition from LinkedIn and aggregators like Indeed.com, among others. (We always used mediabistro.com, but maybe we’re a little biased.)

President and COO Mark Stoever cites “KBS’s experience delivering real business results and successfully navigating complex brand environments” in explaining his company’s decision, adding, “Together we are leveraging our twenty years of insight, expertise and brand recognition to redefine the industry we created.”

“Monster is an iconic brand,” writes KBS CEO Ed Brojerdi, “and we’ve been incredibly impressed by their commitment to create and deliver the best recruiting media, technologies, and platforms to connect jobs and people.”

The client spent $15 million on measured media in 2014, and that total is a mere fraction of its marketing spend in 2007 when BBDO first won the business.

Since Monster is looking to keep costs down, we expect a focus on data-powered, social media-driven work like last year’s “Congratulations, Seattle” Super Bowl fake-out in 2016.

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