Ford Picks Wieden+Kennedy as Its Global Agency Partner for Creative and Brand Strategy

Wieden+Kennedy is increasing its global remit with Ford after the brand cut back its scope of work for its former global creative partner BBDO. The independent agency will serve as Ford's global partner for creative and brand strategy, Adweek has learned. Ford first brought W+K onto its creative roster in 2018 as an "innovation partner" to lead its 2018 fall campaign. Later that year, Ford completed a creative review, adding BBDO to serve as lead global creative agency and scaling back its relationship with WPP after a 75-year partnership. In 2020, W+K assumed work for Ford in the United States. The brand confirmed the change, telling Adweek that Omnicom's BBDO will still handle CRM in the U.S. The win caps off a year in which Wieden+Kennedy expanded its global partnerships with three of the world's biggest advertisers—Anheuser Busch InBev, Ford and McDonald's, helping offset smaller losses of Bud Light and KFC, which picked new agency partners earlier this year. A brand spokesperson told Adweek that Ford did not conduct a formal review, but made the decision "to streamline its global marketing business under one creative agency to drive brand consistency globally and provide greater operational efficiencies." Wieden+Kennedy deferred comment to the client. BBDO declined to comment. WPP agencies, including GTB, still handle media buying, planning and activations for the brand. "All three agencies will continue to play a key role on our multi-agency team and be expected to elevate our creativity," a Ford spokesperson told Adweek. In 2021, Ford spent almost $1.8 billion on marketing globally, according to COMvergence, with 29% of that going to digital spending. In North America alone, Ford dedicated nearly a billion dollars to marketing, with 95% being offline spending. It spent the second most in APAC at $416 million, followed by $339 million in EMA and $27 million in LATAM. After revenue fell during the pandemic, Ford returned to pre-pandemic levels in Q2 2022, reaching $40 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time since 2019. Volvo Trucks’ Whimsical Ad Tells Story of Vehicles That Fall Head Over Wheels for Each Other Previous Ford work from W+K W+K's relationship with Ford began with the introduction of Bryan Cranston as the brand's spokesperson, using the Breaking Bad star on camera, but also to provide the voice-over in future spots. In the campaign, W+K introduced the tagline, "Built Ford Proud." When the pandemic hit in 2020, Ford shifted its marketing to focus on how the brand was contributing to the fight against Covid. Living up to its billing as its innovation partner, W+K brought the Ford Maverick to TikTok using augmented reality. The brand's first foray into the surging social platform resulted in over 10 billion views and 17,000 user-generated videos. Earlier this year, W+K and Ford released a short horror film for the brand's F-150 Raptor R model. The campaign extended to OOH and also produced "Scary Fast" merchandise for the brand.