• by Larissa Faw , January 22, 2018

Riviana Foods has appointed Traction as agency of record for three of the rice and pasta company's brands: Ronzoni, Creamette and American Beauty.

Traction will provide strategic and creative leadership across all aspects of brands’ customer experience.

The agency landed the account after working on a project basis for the brands. Through this relationship, Riviana became impressed with the San Francisco-based agency's creativity paired with data-driven insights to "make impact in a world where people are actively tuning out advertising," says Traction's chief executive officer Adam Kleinberg.

Riviana's three brands have struggled to establish relevance with younger Millennial audiences and were in need of fresh thinking. Traction will lead advertising creative, communications strategy and other consumer touch points such as presence on shelf.

The first work under this partnership will debut later this year.

“I grew up in New York with a box of Ronzoni on the kitchen counter,” said Kleinberg, “so it’s a special honor to be trusted with the responsibility of reinvigorating these brands that have such deep nostalgia in the regions they serve. The work will undoubtedly reflect that heritage, but present it with new relevance to their customers.”

"After working with Traction on a project basis, we believe their approach to delivering provocative, integrated creative and communication planning will drive growth and bring new relevance to our portfolio of strong, regional brands," stated Sandra Kim, senior vice president, marketing at Riviana.