Mcgarrybowen has paid the price for disappointing Pizza Hut sales in the US by losing the $240m ad account to Deutsch LA after just ten months.
Pizza Hut is owned by fast food giant Yum Brands which also owns KFC and Taco Bell, whose recent performance under Deutsch LA has been more positive – Taco Bell sales in the US are up about three per cent whereas Pizza Hut’s tumbled four per cent in the last quarter. Before moving to Mcgarrybowen Pizza Hut was handled by Interpublic’s Martin Agency. IPG also owns Deutsch.
Yum Brands says: “The Pizza Hut business is evolving and we’re looking to align with partners to help us with that evolution. Deutsch has great familiarity with Yum Brands having done some breakthrough work with our sister brand, Taco Bell, and we’re excited about bringing their creativity to Pizza Hut. We got a lot accomplished with Mcgarrybowen, and change is never easy no matter when it happens, but sometimes it’s necessary. This great brand deserves to have everything working as hard as it can for us and we feel our go forward plan is the best one for Pizza Hut.”
Mcgarrybowen, which just a few years ago seemed all-conquering in the US, has had a bumpy last couple of years. The agency is now owned by Dentsu and is supposed to spearhead the Japanese holding company’s worldwide creative effort with new offices in the UK and China.
But there are clearly some problems at home and Dentsu, which now also owns media buyer Aegis, may be tempted to get its chequebook out to boost its creative resources.
IPG agencies, by contrast, can do no wrong at the moment, in the US anyway. Deutsch, which recently partnered IPG’s Lowe network in the US, has been replaced in that role by Detroit-based Campbell Ewald which handles Cadillac with Lowe. But Deutsch seems able to manage quite nicely on its own.
