Church's Chicken Names Made U.S. AOR

Fast-food chain Church's Chicken has named Colorado-based Made its new U.S. advertising agency of record. Made will be responsible for TV, radio, digital, point-of-sale and packaging duties, says agency rep Ben Heinemann. Everything except social media, he added.

Made's strategic partner Grupo Gallegos has been awarded multicultural marketing duties. 

"We saw outstanding work from many agencies, but at the end of the day, it was clear that the team from Made had an understanding of the values and vision for the Church's brand," says Steve Davis, Chief Content Officer, Church's Chicken. "Moreover, the team at Made demonstrated some deep strategic and creative thinking and presented breakthrough ideas that included integrated campaign platforms covering everything from TV to digital to packaging."

This agency switch comes after a 90-day start-to-finish review process. It also comes just one year after the incumbent, ESW StoryLab, formerly known as ESW Partners, first landed the Church's account.

advertisement

advertisement

The Chicago-based incumbent did not participate in this review, but CEO Jim Signorelli said that there was a management change at Church's and company executives wanted to start fresh with a new agency. He declined further comment.

ESW StoryLab had launched Church's "Life's too short to skimp on chicken" tagline, and its creative encouraged customers to enjoy small moments in life. 

Church's Davis said: "As part of Church's evolution, we decided to refresh our strategy and move in another direction."  He added that, "The fact is this change is more about where we need to go with our brand than where we've been." 

Church's Chicken operates 1,650 locations with annual revenues exceeding $1.2 billion.

The chain spent $14.3 million on advertising in 2012, according to Kantar, though a Church's spokesperson declined to confirm the company’s annual ad spending.

Next story loading loading..