Back in January, we learned that Mizuno’s American wing planned to launch an agency review. The impetus for this move was McKinney’s decision to resign the account after three years as AOR, citing the awards they’d won for the work but also mentioning the client’s “limited resources.” Several months before making that decision, the agency produced Mizuno USA’s first national TV campaign, which earned coverage via the dearly departed Stuart Elliott.
At the time, we heard that the footwear company — American headquarters located in Norcross, Georgia, 20 miles from Atlanta — was taking pitches from local agencies like BBDO. That rumor turned out to be true in a general sense as Mizuno chose the ATL’s own 22squared as its new creative AOR today.
22 will handle everything from creative to buying and social media.
From the press release:
In addition to 22squared’s robust integrated offering, it was also their deep understanding of a challenger brand like Mizuno that helped land the national business…The account will be led by 22squared’s Ed Klein EVP, Executive Group Director.
From agency CEO Richard Ward:
“They were looking for a nimble agency with the ability to effectively blend creative with the many platforms available to reach today’s active consumers, and we look forward to delivering on all counts.”
On the earlier point about limited resources, it’s not yet clear whether the client wants to produce another national TV campaign.
A contact familiar with the matter tells us that, while such a large-scale campaign is very much a possibility, the ultimate decision depends on the agency’s initial creative work for its newest client, which should break sometime in early 2016.