Verizon is adding Ogilvy to its agency roster to handle the brand’s b-to-b account, the brand confirmed to Adweek.
“Ogilvy has been added to our agency roster to focus on our b-to-b business, while we continue to work with our long standing partners at McCann on Consumer and other key business priorities,” a Verizon spokesperson told Adweek.
While WPP global chief creative officer Rob Reilly formerly led creative at McCann and worked on the Verizon account, a source close to the pitch told Adweek that Ogilvy leaned on Chris Beresford-Hill, Ogilvy’s North America president and CCO, and Mick McCabe, global CSO, to lead the pitch.
“Verizon is one of America’s most iconic brands and we are honored to use the power of creativity to impact their brand and business,” Devika Bulchandani, global CEO of Ogilvy, told Adweek.
Verizon is also consolidating its media agency partners following the acquisition of TracFone, meaning MediaHub, which previously handled TracFone, will be dropped from the roster, and Verizon is consolidating all media planning and buying with Publicis.
“It was the right time to take a closer look at our media partnerships to ensure we’re optimizing performance, maximizing our use of data and technology across segments and driving the ongoing efficacy of our go-to-market approaches,” the spokesperson told Adweek.
Publicis deferred comment to the client.
The win is the latest in a string of victories for Ogilvy, which secured Audi, H&R Block and SC Johnson this year.
Verizon’s creative changes
The news comes after Verizon’s longtime chief creative officer Andrew McKechnie stepped down in October. The brand’s CMO, Diego Scotti, also restructured its marketing department, with McKechnie’s creative marketing group merging with Verizon’s marketing activation team. With McKechnie gone, the combined team reports to Kristin McHugh, svp, marketing activation and creative. Notably, McHugh spent several years at McCann before joining Verizon ten years ago.
McKechnie stepped down on good terms with the brand, after completing a pre-established five-year plan, Scotti told Adweek in October. He’s credited with growing the creative marketing group into a lauded in-house agency. In a June statement, the brand recognized the in-house agency for having “driven significant cost savings for the company by streamlining external vendor fees and costs.” The brand took home a Gold Lion at Cannes this year—its first ever—for 9/12: The Untold Story of Reconnecting New York.
