Today a source confirmed to AdAge that Vita Coco will follow Chobani and various other brands in dropping the creative AOR model altogether.
As the report notes, this is a loss for Saatchi & Saatchi, which signed a six-month deal with Vita Coco back in September.
A client spokesperson called that deal “the first time that we’ve worked with a truly global agency,” and it may be the last: a different spokesperson addressed the split with Saatchi by saying:
“…over the course of the last few months, it became clear Vita Coco’s global teams need more regional, tactical support…”
The client refrained from naming the “new agency partners” it will work with moving forward, of course, but the above statements strongly imply that the winners will be smaller than Saatchi, whose work for the client is not currently visible anywhere.
In February, Vita Coco also announced that it would look for a new creative agency to handle campaigns in the UK and Europe.
Good luck to whoever wins that pitch.