• by Larissa Faw , January 21, 2014

Fast food chain Arby's has named Minneapolis-based Fallon as its new agency of record. Fallon will lead the strategic creative development and implementation for TV, radio, print, digital, and social media.

Interpublic's Initiative will continue to handle Arby's media buying and planning, which was not part of the review.

Arby's put its creative account in review last October, one month after Rob Lynch replaced Russ Klein as CMO. Joanne Davis Consulting helped the client with its review process.

Incumbent Crispin Porter + Bogusky, part of MDC Partners, did not participate in the agency review citing Arby's management change. Still, the agency said the loss of the account was partly to blame for its recent layoff of 10% of its U.S. staff.

"These decisions are always difficult as they affect our colleagues who have made many contributions to CP+B over the years," said CP+B President Steve Erich in a statement. "To ensure our success in [our] mission we will always be making talent adjustments and additions to deal with the changing market environment and to maximize return on marketing investment of our clients.”

Meanwhile, Fallon cites a new executive team as a key reason for landing the Arby's account. Last summer, the agency promoted John King to CMO following the departure of Rob Buchner to Campbell Mithun. And last year, Jeff Kling came on board as chief creative officer.

 "In our business momentum is everything, and with Jeff Kling at the helm creatively and the core team in place here we've been able to add several great brands to our roster recently,” said King. “We feel like we're dangerous again."

Arby's -- which is owned by private equity firm Roark Capital Group -- and Fallon will unveil a new approach to the chain's advertising in the coming months. Arby's spent $66.5 million on advertising between January 2013 and September 2013, down from $93.1 million spent between the same time frame in 2012, according to Kantar.