Independent agency Wieden + Kennedy yesterday celebrated its biggest ever business win by breaking open a case of … er … Coca-Cola.
Traditional champagne, although kinder to the shop's collective palate, seemed inappropriate in the circumstance - the Portland, Oregon shop's acquisition of Coca-Cola's nascent $2.5 billion (€2.07bn; £1.41bn) global advertising account.
At a presentation Wednesday to the Atlantean elite - Coke chairman/ceo Neville Isdell and 'Scary' Mary Minnick, president of marketing, strategy and innovation - W+K slugged it out with co-finalist, a WPP Group collective.
The decision to appoint W+K is the culmination of Coca-Cola 's twelve-month Odyssey to establish a global advertising platform for its iconic brand.
Among the shops that fell by the wayside during the mission were Ogilvy & Mather, Publicis, McCann Erickson and London-based Mother. Another London boutique, Naked, and Santa Monica's Amoeba competed for Coke's non-traditional creative work in support the winning platform.
According to Coca-Cola's annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company's adspend hit an estimated $2.17bn in 2004. Coke later announced it would stoke its 2005 marketing budget by a further $400 million.
But those close to the pitch process say W+K will be remunerated via a multimillion-dollar fee and expenses rather than commission on media adspend.
Earlier this month, W+K won Coca-Cola's $150 million-plus North American advertising account from WPP's Berlin Cameron. Right now, however, lips are zipped both in Atlanta and Portland about the global business award.
Data sourced from AdAge (USA); additional content by WARC staff
