Everybody wants it. If you were lucky enough to grow up with White Castle (like I did), you are a devoted customer for life. And if you didn’t grow up with it, you wish you did!
As great and as iconic as White Castle is, it will be making some changes moving forward. I’m excited that Zimmerman will be there to create and witness these changes and also to drive the brand’s future success.
Now that’s hot.
Take a look at the press coverage in AdvertisingAge and AdWeek.
Published in AdvertisingAge:
White Castle Puts Omnicom’s Zimmerman in Charge of Marketing
Burger Chain Ends 15-Year Run With JWT
Posted by Rupal Parekh on 03.04.09 @ 02:56 PM
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Fast-food burger chain White Castle has shifted its marketing account to Omnicom Group’s Zimmerman, ending a 15-year run with WPP’s JWT.
White Castle claims to be the first fast-food hamburger chain and the first to introduce frozen fast-food into grocery stores.
JWT, Detroit, had handled creative duties, while WPP sibling Mindshare was the incumbent for media duties.
Both are part of WPP’s Team Detroit unit, which, in the wake of the automotive crisis, this year refocused its efforts on attracting more non-car business. White Castle was the last marketer on the Detroit roster from when the agency went on a non-car account-winning streak in the ’90s.
The Rojek Consulting Group assisted White Castle with its selection of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Zimmerman. There it joins a roster that includes other food chains such as Friendly’s and Papa John’s, as well as Nissan, Lane Bryant and Crocs. The shop’s first campaign for White Castle is expected to break this spring.
‘Ready to evolve’
“White Castle is ready to evolve its brand within a new marketplace,” Kim Bartley, VP-marketing, said in a statement. “We have chosen Zimmerman for the agency’s undeniable focus on results, and the brand sensibility they will bring to distinguishing White Castle from the competition and imitators that has certainly developed over 80 years.”
Columbus, Ohio-based White Castle claims it invented the mini “Slyder,” and it takes credit for other firsts as well, such as being the first fast-food hamburger chain, the first to sell a billion burgers and the first to introduce frozen fast-food into grocery stores.
The chain spent a total of $16 million on U.S. measured media in 2007, according to TNS Media Intelligence.
Published in AdWeek:
Zimmerman Wins White Castle
Iconic burger chain spends about $15 mil. annually on ads
March 4, 2009
-By Andrew McMains
NEW YORK White Castle has shifted lead creative and media duties on its ad account to Zimmerman after a search, the Omnicom Group agency confirmed today.
The other contenders were not disclosed. Rojek Consulting Group in Cleveland managed the process.
The incumbent had been WPP Group’s Team Detroit in Dearborn, Mich., whose JWT and Mindshare units handled creative and media duties, respectively. JWT’s tenure on the brand dated back 15 years.
White Castle’s annual major media spending has been about $15 million in each of the past two years, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The new agency’s first big campaign is slated to break in the second quarter of 2008.
“White Castle is ready to evolve its brand within a new marketplace,” said Kim Bartley, vice president of marketing at the Columbus, Ohio-based fast-food chain. “We have chosen Zimmerman for the agency’s undeniable focus on results and the brand sensibility [the agency] will bring to distinguishing White Castle from the competition and imitators.”
In statement, agency CEO Jordan Zimmerman described himself as a loyal “craver” of the brand. “I grew up as one of those cravers and being part of building the future of a brand that was such a major part of building my past feels especially rewarding,” said Zimmerman, whose agency is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
When reached for comment, Team Detroit CEO George Rogers said: “We had a great relationship with them. It’s 15 years. It lasted much longer than most agency relationships last. We wish them all the best.”
