Panera Bread Selects Anomaly As Its New Creative Shop

Panera Bread has selected MDC Partners’ Anomaly as its new creative ad agency after a review that began in June, the company confirmed Tuesday.  

The food chain spent $60 million on ads in 2013, according to Kantar.

The incumbent was Kramer-Crasselt, which was invited to defend but opted not to, according to the client.

Panera and C-K, which had handled the business since 2012, engaged in a widely reported dispute in June over how their relationship cratered.

A memo penned by agency CEO Peter Krivkovich was leaked in which Krivkovich wrote that the agency resigned the account because of “last-minute shifts in direction, behind-the-scenes politics” and other relationship-disrupting factors that it made difficult to continue with the assignment.

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After that memo leaked, Panera CMO Michael Simon countered that C-K didn’t fire the company as the agency suggested. Instead, Simon indicated that it was looking for more impactful advertising, called a review, and invited C-K to participate. But the agency declined, per Simon.

"Anomaly is rethinking what it means to be a communications company in an increasingly complex marketing landscape," Simon commented Tuesday. The shop, he added, is "focusing on big ideas instead of the constraints of traditional 30-second spot. We value this sort of disruption. It has been the key to the relevancy of our own brand."

Media responsibilities, handled by Maxus since 2009, were not part of the review.

This story has been updated with confirmation and a statement from Panera Bread CMO Michael Simon. 

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