Details remain sparse at the moment, but reliable sources tell us that Crispin Porter + Bogusky has won the Jose Cuervo business after a creative review.
McCann made headlines by breaking up with the client last November, and the internal memo from president Chris McDonald cited “a variety of factors, including financial” in explaining the agency’s decision to leave the tequila train.
McCann first won the business in a 2013 review, with the client’s new parent company Proximo Spirits telling AdAge that it would “make considerable investments in brand building and innovation” in order to revive “sluggish” growth in the brand. The McCann note from November claimed responsibility for a 9 rise in revenue at Jose Cuervo through October 2015 and a 25 percent boost in sales for the Cuervo Silver brand on which the agency focused much of its energy. Yet the relationship still failed.
The client did not publicly reveal that it had launched a review after McCann “resigned” the business, and we do not know at this time which agencies competed with CP+B or which office will run the creative moving forward. But this is not the first time Crispin has worked on Cuervo: the MDC Partners shop won the account for the first time in 2009 after it had been with JWT and kept it for less than two years before it went into review in the summer of 2011.
Generator Media, an indie shop formerly known as Gotham Direct, will retain the Jose Cuervo media account. It has also worked with other brands on the roster of Proximo, which remains its largest client; the liquor company has helped drive a period of self-described “double-digit growth” at Generator.
CP+B declined to comment for this post and we have been unable to reach a client representative at this time. Updates when they come in.
According to Kantar Media, spending on the Jose Cuervo business in North America has “hovered around $10 million annually in recent years.”