Nationwide has dropped McKinney as its creative agency of record after a nearly seven-year relationship that included a wide variety of campaigns, but not last year’s “Make Safe Happen” SB spot (McKinney’s work starred Mindy Kaling).
We’d been hearing rumors of a creative review since last summer, but the client never confirmed.
From a company spokesperson today:
“Nationwide works with a number of creative agencies to support our business needs. We recently informed McKinney of our intent to move in another direction regarding our creative work. We wanted to give the agency as much notice as possible so it could plan accordingly. McKinney has been a valued partner for nearly seven years, playing a critical role in the successful development of the ‘Join the Nation’ campaign that launched in 2012. Our brand is healthier because of McKinney’s efforts. As Nationwide’s business needs change, we’re evaluating all of our options to help us evolve our brand.”
From McKinney chairman and CEO Brad Brinegar:
“We are proud of the work we created, the successes we achieved together and the friendships we formed over seven years of committed partnership with so many good people at Nationwide. We are obviously disappointed with their decision. This was a long relationship, given that the average tenure of an account in the U.S. is just over three years. This does not reflect poor performance by McKinney. What it does reflect is a shift in strategic focus and client leadership.”
McKinney won the business back in 2009.
The client did not specify whether it will launch a full review; Nationwide works with various agencies and returned to Ogilvy in 2014 50 years after that agency wrote the “Nationwide is on your side” tagline.
The “Make Safe Happen” campaign (allegedly) facilitated the departure of Nationwide CMO Matt Jauchius, but we’ve not received any indication that it led to a change in the client’s relationship with Ogilvy & Mather.