If a client like KFC, Old Spice, Bud Light or Nike walked away from agency Wieden + Kennedy, you'd be seeing more than a few headlines about "the end of an era."
So why not with Coca-Cola?
W+K has been the brand's creative agency of record in the U.S. for 15 years—and they were making ads together long before that relationship was solidified. Together they've done something in the neighborhood of 20 Super Bowl ads and created some of the industry's most-awarded work.
But with news this week, exclusively reported by my colleague Minda Smiley, that Coca-Cola had moved its core brand's U.S. creative work over to Anomaly, I was surprised by how the breakup felt so...undramatic. At least to those of us on the outside.
A big part of the reason is that W+K typically produces one piece of high-profile work for Coke each year, usually in the Super Bowl. In recent years, that's resulted in work that's stylish, culturally open-minded but also somewhat bland, such as 2019's "A Coke Is a Coke" pregame spot and 2018's "The Wonder of Us."
There are a lot of agencies (including Anomaly) that are known for taking one or two big swings a year for brands, especially at the Super Bowl, but that just hasn't been the kind of reputation that made Wieden into Wieden.
W+K thrives alongside clients that combine high-quantity marketing output with a willingness to drive the cultural conversation—sometimes for laughs, sometimes to call out massive societal problems like racism.
Not many agencies could handle the churn of a brand like KFC or Bud Light (much less Nike) while maintaining both top-notch craft and a constant pace of creative evolution and experimentation.
Coke is certainly a frequent advertiser, but not specifically with Wieden. The brand produces a ton of work with a litany of partners worldwide, and while it's been commendably supportive of social causes, Coke is far from polarizing and tends to favor a tone of "racism is bad, so maybe we should just all share a Coke together."
So while it's perhaps hard to define Coke's "Wieden era," there's no doubt the partnership will be remembered for creating some lovely and imaginative work, such as the industry-beloved "Happiness Factory" in 2006 and 2009's Emmy-winning "Heist."
These are lean times for W+K, and losing Coke as an AOR client is a kick Wieden certainly didn't need while it was down. But if there's one thing I've seen time and again covering this industry, it's that new opportunities come along a lot faster than you might predict after bad news hits an agency.
Somewhere, there's a beverage brand that probably now sees its chance to be the KFC or Old Spice of sodas rather than just another "pour it into the glass" marketer. (Plus, don't forget that Nike was a startup when it signed on with Dan Wieden's young agency.)
And what comes of that next partnership will definitely be interesting to watch.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
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