Burger King Names OKRP Its US Creative Agency of Record

Burger King is moving on from its longtime incumbents, selecting independent agency O'Keefe Reinhard & Paul as its creative agency of record for the U.S. market and picking Omnicom's PHD as RBI's media agency of record in the U.S. for Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons. Sources familiar with the review told Adweek that for the creative side, Dentsu Creative, Fig and OKRP were invited to compete for the business alongside the incumbent David Agency, which worked in tandem with Ogilvy for its pitch. On the media side, the incumbent, Horizon Media, and OMG's PHD reached the final round of the review. “The team is working to evolve and build on the iconic Burger King brand by optimizing media firepower and modernizing the ‘Home of the Whopper,’” said Tom Curtis, president of Burger King North America, in a statement. OKRP was founded nine years ago in Chicago and touts a leadership team that is 50% BIPOC and 60% female. OKRP counts P&G, Ace Hardware, Illinois Lottery, Cars.com, Nerds Candy and Illinois Tourism as its largest clients. Multiple sources familiar with the review described it as "fast-paced and efficient" and "well-run." The review wrapped up in under two months, making it much shorter than fellow QSR brand, KFC, which finished a five-month review earlier this year that featured KFC extending the final round three times. According to COMvergence, Burger King spent $229 million in offline media in 2021, Tim Hortons spent $6 million and Popeyes $124 million over the past year. Consultancy ID Comms managed all the reviews. Marketing overhaul at RBI Restaurant Brands International is undergoing a transformation of its marketing leaders and partners. Four CMOs across the company have left, most notably Fernando Machado, who departed the company one year ago. Of its U.S. creative and media AORs, only Gut, the creative AOR for Popeyes and Tim Hortons, was not placed into review. Burger King was looking for an agency that could deliver "creative effectiveness" instead of "creative excellence," as one source familiar with the review told Adweek, and a second source confirmed that was an accurate depiction. One source told Adweek Burger King was looking for an agency partner that could deliver an aligned creative framework. According to Burger King's statement, OKRP is tasked with reintroducing the brand to consumers, explaining the agency is "focused on in becoming guest-obsessed, driving relevancy and authenticity in culture, achieving business objectives and reclaiming Burger King’s status as an iconic brand." Burger King's statement also said PHD brings strong experience in the QSR space and will be counted on as "a strategic business partner responsible for accelerating a data-driven, omni-channel planning approach for each brand." David will continue to work with BK on a global level. David Miami held the account since 2014, and it previously created many memorable spots, including "The Proud Whopper" in 2014, "Whopper Net Neutrality" in 2018 and "Moldy Whopper" in 2020. Horizon served as media AOR for Burger King since 2013. Horizon will continue to work on Burger King and Tim Hortons in Canada, handling traditional media for both and digital media for Burger King, while Media.Monks will handle digital media for Tim Hortons in Canada. 360i will remain Burger King's social agency of record in the U.S.