Loews Hotels appointed Minneapolis agency mono as its creative agency of record, concluding a review launched in August and handled by Avidan Strategies. The review initially consisted of a dozen undisclosed agencies, before being pared down to four finalists.
Loews had worked with Catch New York until their contract expired earlier this year. In 2015, the agency earned media coverage for a campaign that featured UGC Instagram imagery rather than the work of professional photographers.
mono will be charged with handling creative on Loews’ Loews Hotels and Resorts, Loews Regency and the OE Collection brands, starting immediately. Among its key tasks will be creating a multi-channel integrated campaign for all three brands, expected to launch during the second quarter of 2017. It’s unclear at this time whether the work will bear any similarity to Catch’s campaigns.
According to Kantar Media, Loews Hotels spent $9.2 million on measured media in 2015 and $3 million during the first half of this year.
Loews is mono’s first client in the travel/hospitality industry. It has worked with retail clients like Walmart and Target in addition to fashion brands such as Sperry and Vera Bradley.
Last month, the shop announced the rollout of monoONE, a one-year contract model designed to allow for greater flexibility as an alternative to the standard agency of record relationship. It also parted with several employees as part of a “general restructuring” at that time.