Carmichael Lynch to Help Oil Giant Phillips 66 Navigate ‘Changing Consumer Behaviors’

Independent fuel company Phillips 66 named Carmichael Lynch as its new agency of record after a three-month closed review managed by The Burnett Collective.

Prior to the new assignment, the company had worked with Venables Bell & Partners for approximately eight years. During that time, Adweek’s 2016 Breakthrough Agency of the Year created a series of broadcast campaigns and managed a retail redesign project for the Houston-based chain via its VBP Orange experiential unit.

Carmichael Lynch’s Minneapolis headquarters will now handle creative, brand strategy, media planning and buying, analytics, digital and cause marketing for the client’s Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco fuel brands. The IPG agency will initially focus on promotions and sports marketing while supporting current campaigns. New brand work is set to launch in 2018.

“Carmichael Lynch came to the table with an understanding of our business needs, our values and our company culture,” said Phillips 66 senior director of brands Sarah Bolding in a statement. “Their integrated resources produced an outstanding creative product and 360-degree plan.”

Last November, the business—which formed in 2012 when the larger oil conglomerate ConocoPhillips spun off its “downstream and midstream assets”—named a new team of marketing leaders following the retirement of commercial svp and 35-year company veteran John Wright. Shortly thereafter, Burnett launched the review.

At the time, the company attributed the decision to pick a new marketing partner to its own efforts to “take advantage of changing consumer behaviors” regarding the consumption of fossil fuels. Omaha’s Bailey Lauerman currently works on the “lubricants” portion of the larger brand’s business after winning a March 2016 review.

According to Kantar Media, Phillips 66 spent approximately $8 million on measured media in 2015 and $6 million from January to November of 2016.

Patrick Coffee

@PatrickCoffee

Patrick Coffee is a senior editor for Adweek.