16513: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find Out What It Means To Applebee’s.

 

Why is Applebee’s hyping its food promotion with “Respect” as the musical soundtrack—when the restaurant chain has a history of disrespecting Blacks?

 

 

13601: Bobbing For Applebee’s.

Adweek reported Applebee’s named its third White advertising agency in two years, handing the business to Grey, following a shootout involving other White advertising agencies. Interim Applebee’s SVP of Marketing and Culinary Jeannine D’Addario gushed, “In addition to their deep experience, capability and creativity, the team at Grey has a solid understanding of Applebee’s evolving consumer, the brand’s legacy and our goals to ignite change and deliver original and compelling work.” Wow, that’s about as standard as corporate jargon gets, served up with all the blandness of, well, any meal at Applebee’s. Grey New York CEO Debby Reiner vomited more jargon by stating, “We will be responsible for creative development, market strategy and brand positioning, crafting engaging campaigns that resonate with their customers nationally.” Imagine that. Grey will craft campaigns to engage and resonate with an audience. Has Applebee’s ever produced anything that would qualify as engaging or resonating—or even edible?

Applebee’s Picks Grey as Its Third Agency of Record in Less Than 2 Years

Chain named a new president earlier this month

By Patrick Coffee

Grey has become Applebee’s third creative agency of record in less than two years.

The chain, which identifies itself as “America’s largest casual dining brand,” picked Grey after a review that began last December, with a whopping 26 agencies responding to the initial RFP. Subsequent rounds cut the number of competing shops to six, with Grey beating BBDO San Francisco and Argonaut to win the business. The WPP network’s New York and Los Angeles offices will manage the account.

According to the latest numbers from Kantar Media, Applebee’s spent approximately $150 million on paid media in the U.S. last year.

“We couldn’t be more excited to begin working with Grey,” said Jeannine D’Addario, interim svp of marketing and culinary at Applebee’s who joined the company last summer after leading marketing and communications for Whole Foods. “In addition to their deep experience, capability and creativity, the team at Grey has a solid understanding of Applebee’s evolving consumer, the brand’s legacy and our goals to ignite change and deliver original and compelling work.”

Applebee’s and parent company DineEquity have been toying with the chain’s advertising efforts for some time. The client split with former AOR Crispin Porter + Bogusky in November 2015, citing a desire to “transform the marketing and advertising direction of the brand” and picking Kansas City’s Barkley to handle those efforts. One year and one wood-fired steak relaunch later, the business went through another review with the press release again stating that “Applebee’s felt the time was right to make a creative shift given the evolving restaurant landscape.”

DineEquity also named longtime restaurant industry veteran John Cywinski as Applebee’s new president earlier this month. The news marked a return for Cywinski, who previously served as Applebee’s CMO from 2001 to 2006 and led the “Eatin’ Good in the Neighborhood” campaign created by FCB Chicago before leaving to hold similar positions at KFC and Chili’s parent company Brinker International Inc.

The parent company’s stock took a hit last December around the very time news of this latest review broke. At the time, analysts questioned DineEquity’s ability to counter “sluggish traffic and menu misfires at Applebee’s” caused, in part, by over-saturation as fewer guests visit each franchise location.

“We will be responsible for creative development, market strategy and brand positioning, crafting engaging campaigns that resonate with their customers nationally. Our integrated communications effort will launch in July,” wrote Grey New York CEO Debby Reiner in an internal memo sent to the whole staff this morning. She then congratulated, “all who worked so tirelessly on this,” citing today’s news and Grey’s role in a new $600 million global contract between WPP and Walgreen’s Boots Alliance as “proof we are at the top of our game.”

The chief executive concluded, “We’ll celebrate after the blizzard.”

12971: Applebee’s A-Team (Anglo-Team).

Adweek reported Applebee’s replaced its old White advertising agency with a new White advertising agency. For proof of the Whiteness, simply visit the people page of the new shop’s website. According to Adweek, the shootout pitted Barkley against FCB Chicago—which is like trying to decide between the mediocre menu items from Applebee’s Two For Twenty deals.

Applebee’s Picks Kansas City’s Barkley as Its New Creative Agency

Account had been with Crispin Porter + Bogusky

By Patrick Coffee

Top American casual chain Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, which announced in November that it would end its three-year relationship with Crispin Porter + Bogusky, has chosen Barkley as its new agency of record after an informal review that a source said pitted the independent Kansas City shop against FCB’s Chicago office.

Barkley, which is perhaps best known for its work for Sonic, will handle all 2016 campaigns as Applebee’s moves forward with plans to transform its overall marketing and advertising strategies.

Prior to the selection, Applebee’s parent company DineEquity, Inc. announced plans to consolidate most of its operations at its Glendale, California headquarters in what it called a plan “designed to accelerate growth in its core brands and speed development of traditional and non-traditional locations.” Applebee’s International president Steven R. Layt also resigned as part of this move.

The chain’s svp of marketing and culinary Darin Dugan said, “As we take the iconic Applebee’s brand to new places, we’re excited about the creative potential of the Applebee’s-Barkley relationship.” He added that “Barkley’s track record of driving results in the restaurant category and contemporizing established brands makes the agency an ideal partner to support our new direction.”

Barkley CEO Jeff King said he’s enthusiastic about the assignment: “Applebee’s invented the casual dining segment and has a unique and rich heritage. We are thrilled about the opportunity to help a powerful brand tell a new story extremely well.”

This is not the first time the chain and agency have teamed up. Barkley’s Blacktop unit has worked on Applebee’s menu design and other below-the-line projects for several years. DineEquity Inc. spent $165.4 million on measured media for Applebee’s in the U.S. last year, according to Kantar Media. The company spent nearly $100 million in the first half of 2015, marking an increase from its 2013 total of $177 million.

12925: Applebee’s Upsets Apple Cart.

Adweek reported Applebee’s is dumping White advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky “as part of broad plans to transform the marketing and advertising direction of the brand.” The decision coincides with the resignation of Applebee’s president, which prompted the parent company’s chief executive to assume control. Meanwhile, CP+B hired a new global CEO and released a bunch of creative directors. Regardless, one thing is certain in this scenario: a new White advertising agency will excrete more shitty work for Applebee’s shitty menu items.

Applebee’s Will End Its Relationship With ‘Foodie’ Agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Chain will reach out to potential partners in early 2016

By Patrick Coffee

American casual chain Applebee’s will soon end its relationship with creative agency of record Crispin Porter + Bogusky after more than three years.

In a statement sent to Adweek, the company said it will part ways with CP+B in early 2016 “as part of broad plans to transform the marketing and advertising direction of the brand.”

Applebee’s does not appear to be releasing an RFP or launching a formal review. Instead, a spokesperson said that “the company will discuss the assignment of its account with a select few potential agency partners” when its contract with Crispin ends in February 2016.

The company’s svp of marketing and culinary, Darin Dugan, told Adweek, “CP+B has been a valued creative partner during our three years together, but we’re taking the Applebee’s brand in a new direction and believe our plans would benefit from fresh thinking and new approaches.”

Applebee’s did not provide additional information on which agencies it would consider for future campaigns or what that new creative direction might include. In September, the chain announced plans to move its headquarters from Kansas City to Glendale, California after its president resigned and the chief executive of its parent company DineEquity took control.

When CP+B won the Applebee’s business in 2012, it had become known as something of a “foodie” agency, making its name with the Burger King “Subservient Chicken” campaign and counting Arby’s, Domino’s and Kraft Mac & Cheese among its clients. Arby’s later went to Fallon, but the Boulder, Colo.-based shop retains both Domino’s and Kraft after emerging as one of few winners in Kraft’s November 2014 agency consolidation. Crispin’s status on that account may change given the newly-formed Kraft-Heinz company’s October decision to review all of its creative accounts and move production for future campaigns in-house, but for the time being, the agency will continue to create work like last month’s Star Wars nostalgia spot.

CP+B recently went through a round of major executive staffing changes, saying good-bye to its CEO and several creative directors—but it has also won several major pieces of business over the past year including the global accounts for Infiniti, PayPal and, more recently, American Airlines. It also named Lori Senecal of parent company MDC Partners as its new global CEO.

Representatives from CP+B declined to comment for this story and deferred to the client. Applebee’s told Adweek it would not be making any further statements.

According to Kantar Media, Applebee’s spent $165.4 million on measured media in the U.S. last year.

9488: Shitty Client Seeks Shitty Agency.

Advertising Age reported Applebee’s is seeking a new creative agency. Seriously? A creative agency? What would the restaurant chain even do with a creative agency?

Casual dining chain Applebee’s is looking for a new creative agency.

The incumbent, Interpublic’s McCann Erickson,—which has worked with the restaurant since 2007, when it shifted its account from sister shop DraftFCB—will not participate in the review.

A statement issued by Applebee’s said that the review will not impact media duties, which are at Universal McCann. Morgan Anderson Consulting, New York, is leading the review, and Applebee’s expects to have the process wrapped up and have a new agency in place by the end of the first quarter of 2012.

“Applebee’s recognizes the contributions that have been made by McCann over the years and what they’ve helped us accomplish,” said Becky Johnson, senior VP-marketing and culinary, Applebee’s Services, in the statement. “We’ve made significant changes to our food, beverage, menu, buildings and marketing communications in the past year. Given those changes—and the ever-shifting consumer landscape—we need to continue to evolve how we grow the health of our brand.”

Said McCann’s chief creative officer, Linus Karlsson, in a separate statement: “For the past five years, we have helped our Applebee’s client to not only hold their own but also innovate in a very tough competitive landscape and, in the past few years especially, battle through a depressed economy. We respect Applebee’s decision, and while they have asked us to participate, we have decided to decline their invitation. We wish Applebee’s continued success.”

The statement also said that the chain, which is the 10th largest in the U.S. by sales, according to Technomic, spends more than $100 million annually on advertising, including national TV spots, local advertising and an “ever-growing social media presence.”

And so the agency business goes—you win some accounts, you lose some accounts. In the span of a week, McCann has lost two big ones—Exxon and now Applebee’s—although it won some more global work from retailer Ikea.

Contributing: Rupal Parekh