Advertising Age reported White Castle hired a new White advertising agency—GSD&M.
Creative and media duties slide from Merkley+Partners to GSD&M, both within Omnicom Group—pointing to probable Corporate Cultural Collusion that the White holding company has mastered so well.
According to Ad Age, the account review featured a “cultural scan” that matched client and agency based on 54 attributes, determining potential “chemistry” between all parties. A cultural scan of GSD&M leadership, incidentally, displays common corporate Caucasian dominance.
No word on multicultural marketing possibilities. GSD&M likely feels qualified to handle such matters, of course, as they are those wonderful folks who gave you Annie the Chicken Queen.
Behind GSD&M’s White Castle win—creative and media accounts slide over to the Omnicom agency
By Brian Bonilla
White Castle, the 104-year-old family-owned slider chain, has named GSD&M as its new creative and media agency of record. The assignment follows a competitive review handled by Rojek Consulting Group.
Omincom Group’s Merkley+Partners previously handled creative and Crossmedia handled media. While Merkley+Partner’s remit has concluded, Crossmedia will stay on until potentially sometime in August, White Castle Chief Marketing Officer Lynn Blashford said. Blue Chip will remain as its shopper marketing agency of record.
Lynn Blashford said the change was driven by a desire for “some fresh perspectives” and to bring creative, strategy, and media back under one roof. “It helps for better planning and … it’s much more efficient for our team,” she said.
Omnicom’s GSD&M will now oversee creative, strategy, media, experiential and social duties for the brand, with its first work expected in early 2026.
White Castle, which operates 340 restaurants across 14 states, ranked 87th in Technomic’s Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, down from 82nd in 2024. Its sales fell to $651 million in 2024 from $684 million in 2023, according to Technomic data cited by Restaurant Business.
Building chemistry
The review began with a “cultural scan” that is part of Rojek’s offering. The scan is a survey that matches client and agency based on 54 attributes, measuring values such as “team oriented, results driven, [and] taking bold risks.” Blashford noted that collaboration, innovation and risk-taking were key qualities that emerged as top priorities for White Castle.
“It’s important for us to start with an agency that is going to match our beliefs and our values and how we work, because we think that’s going to end up with a more powerful and long-term relationship,” she said.
Chemistry within the agency played an especially significant role in the process. “You could tell from the very first call that they all got along together,” Blashford said of GSD&M. “That’s very telling when you’re watching how they interact with each other, as well as how they’re interacting with us as the client team.”
GSD&M distinguished itself from the outset in a few ways. Most notably, the agency welcomed the client by serving sliders and building a White Castle facade in its lobby.
The White Castle team returned the favor by hiring someone to play a “Town Crier” to announce the win to the agency.
The agency showcased parent Omnicom Group’s media tools during the pitch, including a live demo. GSD&M CEO Lee Newman said this is something the agency has been doing more of in the past six months as it purposefully continues to target integrated accounts.
Refreshing its marketing approach
For White Castle, the next phase is about refreshing its marketing and appealing to younger consumers while leveraging its legacy and cultural relevance. This includes both White Castle’s restaurants and its frozen food in grocery stores.
“We’re looking to grow the next generation of ‘Cravers,’” Blashford said, while acknowledging budget realities: “Our budgets are smaller … the ability to be resonant with a new and younger audience is important for both our CPG business as well as our restaurant business.”
Blashford acknowledged that broader economic pressures are impacting the category. “Economy is top of mind for consumers everywhere. [Quick-service restaurant] traffic is flat. The frozen food aisle is flat,” she said, noting that smaller chains such as White Castle face added challenges breaking through with limited budgets.
The brand sees an opportunity to stay relevant by balancing nostalgia with bold ideas that appeal to younger consumers.
Last year, White Castle spent $5 million on U.S. measured media, according to data by MediaRadar. Blashford declined to comment on White Castle’s ad spend, but said there will be a slight uptick in ad spend next year.
Given its smaller size compared to the larger QSR chains, White Castle has been investing in different marketing tactics. Already a third of White Castle’s media budget is in social, Blashford said. The brand also benefits from organic celebrity affinity, such as a partnership it solidified with rapper Fat Joe a few years ago.
White Castle is also known for quirky marketing moments that generate earned media, such as its longstanding Valentine’s Day dinner reservations. This year’s Valentine’s Day program garnered $35 million worth of organic earned media, Blashford confirmed.
“When your budget for media is not as big as some of our competitors, doing some of these very unique, memorable things that are a little unexpected … helps to keep White Castle unique and sort of the ‘uncorporate’ chain doing these fun things,” Blashford said.
White Castle is also looking for unexpected collaborations to drive awareness. It recently partnered with Garage Beer, owned by Travis and Jason Kelce, on a retail sweepstakes that included a freezer full of sliders and a refrigerator full of beer as prizes. The brand also continues to have cultural cachet thanks to the 2004 cult classic “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.”
“We talk about Harold and Kumar being the gift that keeps on giving for us,” Blashford said, noting that every time the film’s stars Kal Penn or John Cho are mentioned in entertainment coverage, White Castle earns organic impressions. “Every generation kind of gets their Harold and Kumar moment,” she said, noting that customers still visit the restaurants and tag their own “Harold and Kumar moment” on social media as a rite of passage.
Blashford said she will look to GSD&M to help create more broad appeal for the brand while continuing its localized approach in specific markets. This includes tackling certain misconceptions about White Castle.
“If there’s any misconception, it might be the people who don’t come to us, who think of us only as a late-night kind of place,” Blashford said. “That is something we need to have a broader appeal for just business purposes alone.
She highlighted the chain’s breakfast sliders, a menu strength that many customers may overlook. The company also controls its own supply chain, operating its own bakeries and meat plants to produce buns and patties in-house, ensuring consistency across all its restaurants.
White Castle has also been innovating at its restaurants. One example is its use of voice-activated ordering technology, with an AI assistant known as Julia handling nearly 90% of orders across its drive-thru lanes at more than 30 restaurants where it is deployed. It’s named after Julia Joyce, a brand ambassador from the 1940s who helped convince mothers to serve White Castle at home, Blashford said.
“She’s been getting a little smarter, a little better,” Blashford said, noting that the system has learned regional accents and slang such as “give me a castle” to improve order accuracy.
Customers can opt out of speaking with Julia at any time to connect directly with a team member. “She does a great job of suggesting, selling, and she never calls off sick,” Blashford joked.
The win builds on momentum for GSD&M, which earlier this year added Pacific Life to its client roster. Its other major clients include Corona, Capital One, Dodge and Southwest Airlines. Its prior restaurant clients included Pizza Hut and Popeyes.
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