Multiple sources tell us today that TBWA\Chiat\Day L.A. and Twitter do not have specific plans to work together moving forward.
The social network picked the Omnicom shop to create its first-ever TV campaign late last year, with all related reports stating that there would be no agency of record relationship as Twitter hired TBWA to work on a per-project basis.
The campaign in question debuted during last year’s Major League Baseball World Series in order to promote “Moments,” a regularly updated trending topics feature designed to bring more casual users into the Twitter fold by way of GIFs, videos and other fun stuff that’s very different than much of the gutter clutter that clogs the average politically-minded user’s feed. Specifically, this work targeted two of the five groups Twitter wants to reach: sports enthusiasts and 18-24-year-old women, also known as “social connectors.”
A TBWA spokesperson told us that the tech company officially remains on the agency’s client roster but that the two do not currently have any active projects. But we have heard from other sources–one of whom is an agency employee–that TBWA will no longer create campaigns for Twitter moving forward and that the relationship has effectively ended.
Approximately two months after the baseball campaign launched, TBWA parted ways with creative director Chris Ribeiro, who had led the Twitter account since the agency first won the assignment last September.
Among social networks, Jack Dorsey’s company faces unique challenges in turning its service profitable. Former CEO Dick Costolo agreed to step down just over one year ago as Dorsey moved back into the leadership role at Twitter, and since then the company’s stock value has declined by more than 60 percent. While Twitter remains incredibly popular and influential among certain groups–especially those who work in media–Snapchat officially passed the network in daily usage earlier this month.
It’s unclear at this time whether Twitter plans to launch additional TV campaigns or whether it will seek the services of another creative ad agency. The company’s PR department declined to comment for this post.