• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 1, 2017

Church’s Chicken, the 65-year old quick service restaurant chain has appointed J. Walter Thompson Atlanta as its new ad agency, after a review.

Church’s confirmed that its previous AOR was Made Movement of Boulder, CO. The two parted ways late last year and the company recently worked with San Francisco-based Erich & Kallman on a project basis and will be using their work through the end of 2017. 

The agency is tasked with helping to devise a new brand positioning for the company. The agency will work with company executives, franchisees and other business partners to develop the new positioning.

JWT Atlanta will lead messaging strategy across all consumer touchpoints. Creative content will be led by Vann Graves, who serves as CCO for the agency. The new campaign is expected to break in early 2018.

The review came shortly after the arrival of Hector Munoz as evp and global CMO at the QSR chain. “Throughout the selection process, JWT’s leadership continued to demonstrate great passion for our brand, franchisees and guests,” Munoz stated. “We believe the agency’s enthusiasm for our brand will resonate through the creative in meaningful ways that will engage and delight our guests and drive transactions.”

The chain was founded in San Antonio, TX and now has more than 1,650 locations and more than $1 billion in annual sales.