By now, you’ve heard the news that Starbucks has given some projects to BBDO that were once W+K’s. AdAge was hesitant to name them as the AOR considering that the brand has denied it, but you’re probably thinking, what gives? We’ve been stewing on this one all day, digging around, etc.
Our sources say that BBDO is the AOR for the Starbucks brand, whether the brand is ready to admit it or not. Not the ice cream or any of that other jazz, the brand. Those ancillary products will continue to be streamed out to other agencies.
How did BBDO land these alleged “projects?” For starters, there’s a very close relationship between Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and CCO of BBDO David Lubars. They talk on the phone about y’know, personal stuff, all the time. Also, remember 1997? Schultz was quoted as saying: “I’ve known the guy [David Lubars] over at BBDO West for years, and I think he can, with his organization, find the Starbucks creative voice.” Of course, BBDO West lost the account in just over a year’s time.
BBDO had no comment on any of this, so we contacted Laura Wyss, head of consumer communications for Starbucks, with our brand-side sources and out-of-control suspicions:
“Recently, we made the decision to evaluate our agency work in support of the overall brand. We are asking a number of our current agencies to provide ideas to move the brand forward but have not yet made any decisions. We do work with BBDO on some of our CPG business and some projects but we have not selected an agency of record but we are still in the process.”
So, yeah. Why would they wait to announce the news of BBDO being the AOR for the Starbucks brand? One reason could be that AdAge beat them to the punch. The brand wasn’t ready to make the news public, but hell, the cat is out of the bag, kiddos. Are their other agencies that have been promised a shot at that big prize that would be offended? Is their some contractual issue with W+K that still needs to be worked out? Are we all crazy and our sources are dead wrong? And, hey… we’ve got many, many sources.
Feel free to use the comments section. Break it down. Lay a little science on us.