FCB (advertising agency)

FCB
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryAdvertising
GenreAdvertising agency
Founded1873 (1873) (as Lord & Thomas)
Headquarters
New York City, New York, United States
Number of locations
90 countries
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Susan Credle[1]
Global Chairperson & Global Chief Creative Officer
Tyler Turnbull[1]
Global CEO
ServicesMarketing communications
Number of employees
8,653
ParentInterpublic Group of Companies
Websitewww.fcb.com

Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) is one of the largest global advertising agency networks.[2] It is owned by Interpublic Group and was merged in 2006 with Draft Worldwide, adopting the name Draftfcb. In 2014 the company rebranded itself as FCB.[3]

Parent Interpublic Group is one of the big four agency holding conglomerates, the others being Publicis, WPP, and Omnicom.

History

Founded by Daniel Lord and Ambrose Thomas as Lord & Thomas in Chicago in 1873, FCB is the third-oldest advertising agency in the U.S. still operating today. Albert Lasker began work for the firm as a clerk in 1898, working his way up until he purchased it in 1912. Chicago and New York were centers of the nation's advertising industry at the time, and Lasker, known as the "father of modern advertising," made Chicago his base from 1898 to 1942. When the agency acquired the Sunkist Growers, Incorporated account, the citrus industry was in a slump with an excess of produce. Lasker helped increase the consumption of oranges by creating a new market with his "Drink an orange" ads.[4] Lasker's use of radio, particularly with his campaigns for Palmolive soap, Pepsodent toothpaste, Kotex feminine hygiene products, and Lucky Strike cigarettes, not only revolutionized the advertising industry but also significantly changed popular culture.[5][4]

In 1942, Lasker sold Lord & Thomas to its three top managers, Emerson H. Foote in New York City, Fairfax Cone in Chicago, and Don Belding in California; they renamed it Foote Cone & Belding.[6][4]

In 1963, Foote, Cone & Belding began to offer stock and went public.[7] FCB began to expand in Europe that year.

In the 1970s and '80s major clients included Mazda, RJR Nabisco, AT&T, Coors Brewing Company, Payless ShoeSource and Mattel. In the 1980s, the agency began an international expansion.

In December 1994, FCB created a new holding company, True North Communications, to become a major multinational player.[8]

In 2000, it had more than 190 offices serving clients in 102 countries.[citation needed]

In 2001, ad network Interpublic Group acquired True North Communications.[8]

Draft Direct Worldwide and FCB merged in June 2006, to form Draftfcb. Less than a year after the merger, in April 2007, Kmart switched its $740 million account from Grey New York to Draftfcb Chicago without a pitch.[9]

On 10 March 2014, the agency was renamed as FCB, six months after the appointment of worldwide CEO Carter Murray.[10]

In 2016, Susan Credle joined the agency as Global Chief Creative Officer.[11]

In 2019, Ad Age named FCB to its 2019 A-List and FCB/SIX earns Data/Analytics Agency of the Year.[12]

Campaigns and awards

The agency and its work have been recognized at a number of award competitions—Cannes, The One Show, and industry competitions Echoes, El Ojo, Effies, and Caples—as well as agency-of-the-year honors for its New Zealand,[13] Indonesia,[14] and Durban[15] São Paulo, Mexico City and Kuwait offices. Its Canada office has won digital agency-of-the-year in four consecutive years starting in 2016.[16][17]

2008-2010

  • Ad Age regularly lists Draftfcb-created spots for brands like KFC, Oreo and Taco Bell[18] among IAG/Nielsen's most-liked and most-recalled ads, and Time.com's Lev Grossman noted in his Nerd World blog that the spot for EA Games' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, "Oh No You Didn't," created by Draftfcb San Francisco, was the greatest video game ad of 2008.[19] The agency was recognized on Advertising Age's annual A-List, which honors "the agencies that showed moxie, innovation and effectiveness in 2009."
  • The 2010 U.S. Census campaign, led by Draftfcb New York, received Gold in the multicultural category and the Research Achievement Award at the 2010 Advertising Research Foundation David Ogilvy Awards for Excellence in Advertising Research.[20]
  • 345 awards globally in 2010, including six best workplace honors for Draftfcb Chicago. Spanish magazine Estrategias noted Draftfcb Spain's "Cutty Shark Shanghai-London" as one of the Top 10 events of the first decade of the 21st century.[21]
  • Draftfcb Malaysia: number one creative agency in Malaysia (2010) by Cream Magazine.[22]

2011-2013

  • Draftfcb New Zealand: Best in Show, Media Agency of the Year and Leadership; five gold and three silver awards at the CAANZ Awards.[23] Media Agency of the Year at the Fairfax Media/AdMedia Agency of the Year Awards in 2011, 2010 and 2008.[24]
  • Draftfcb San Francisco: "Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2" - Gold in the Outstanding Overall Marketing Campaign of the Year category (2011) and other awards at Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.[25]
  • 17 Cannes Lions (2012),[26] four ARF David Ogilvy Awards for Excellence in Advertising Research.[27] and three CLIO Awards.
  • 2013: OREO "Daily Twist,"[28] New Zealand's Mini "Driving Dogs."[29] Chicago's Halloween web video for Kmart,[30] and Argentina's work for ZonaJobs and Orange County's "Operation Alaska" for Taco Bell[31][32] In 2013, Draftfcb Healthcare's "Escape The Stall" work for the Crohn's & Colitis Founding was named "Best Philanthropic Campaign" at the Manny Awards by Medical Advertising News.[33] Draftfcb Healthcare also won for "Get Your Shift Together" in the "Best Nonbranded Campaign" category for its work for TEVA targeting shift workers.[34] Draftfcb won three Reggie Awards for OREO 100th Birthday Celebration, Sharpie and Taco Bell. Eight offices won 14 CLIO Awards, six One Show PENCIL Awards for Valspar "Cityscape," UTEC University Potable Water Generator, Prime Television "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," Engen Calendar Fire Blanket and SPCA/MINI New Zealand "Driving Dogs."[35] The agency also won five North American Effie Awards for OREO "Daily Twist," PFLAG "Stories to Inspire Change"[36] and SPIRIVA "Elephant,"[37] in addition to 35 Lions and a Grand Prix at the 2013 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.[38] Adweek awarded Draftfcb the first-ever Project Isaac Gravity Award, its top honor.[39]

2014-2016

  • 2014: 38 Lions including one Grand Prix, seven Gold, 10 Silver and 20 Bronze.[40] FCB Brasil's "Protection Ad," was recognized at the Clio Awards, London International Awards,[41] El Ojo de Iberoamerica,[42] One Show, D&AD Awards,[43] Andy Awards,[44] ADC Awards[45] and earned the top honor at Cannes in the Mobile Category. At Cannes, FCB won gold for their campaigns "Bank Job" and "A Rainbow for the Rainbow Nation" in Media, "Speaking Exchange" in Direct and Promo & Activation and "Protection Ad" in Mobile and Media.
  • 2015: Sport England's 'This Girl Can' created by FCB Inferno, made to encourage women to exercise, won two D&AD awards, including the White Pencil - Creativity for Good, nine Creative Circle silver awards,[46] and three British Arrows awards for Public Service Advertising, Best 60-90 Second TV Ad, and Best 60-90 Second Cinema Ad.[47][48] FCB won the Grand Prix for Good at Lions Health and the D&AD Award[49] for Sport England's "This Girl Can" by FCB Inferno.[50][51]
  • 2016: 47 Lions[52] At the Cristal Festival, FCB South Africa won Agency of the Year.

2017-2020

FCB received The One Club award in 2017 and 2018 from The One Club.[53]

  • 2017: FCB-West (Drum Awards, 30 and 60 second categories).[54] FCB-Chicago (Super Reggie)[55]
  • 2018: FCB-Health-NY (New York Festivals Global Awards)[56]

2021-2025

  • 2023: FCB New York won the 2023 Kyoto Global Design Awards for McEnroe vs McEnroe in Visual category.[57]

Bully Hunters

FCB Media initiated a marketing campaign called Bully Hunters which consisted of a livestream event held in mid-April 2018 which aimed to combat misogynist harassment in video games by deploying "bully hunters" to kill abusive opponents in the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The livestream itself consisted of pre-recorded footage of faked harassment as acted out by associates of FCB Media.

Claimed sponsors of the event included SteelSeries, Vertagear, CyberPowerPC, the Diverse Gaming Coalition, and the National Organization for Women.

SteelSeries considered the campaign to be damaging to their brand and misrepresented the level of SteelSeries involvement.[58] The company released a statement stating that the way Bully Hunters represented the gaming community was wrong and disingenuous, adding stating that SteelSeries was not involved in the management of the event and did not pay FCB Media to produce it.[59] A CyberPowerPC representative stated "What they told us was completely [different?] than the way they executed it" and that they felt misled.[60]

Brandon Cooke, FCB's global chief communications officer, told Polygon "As this effort did not live up to our high standards, we decided to end this program, but hope the conversation it has raised around ending harassment in gaming continues".[61]

By the end of the campaign all claimed sponsors had withdrawn their support.[62][63]

References

  1. ^ a b "Susan Credle and Tyler Turnbull promoted to Lead FCB Global". 15 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Agency Report 2008," Advertising Age May 5, 2008
  3. ^ "DraftFCB Officially Changes Name to FCB," Advertising Age 10 March 2014 http://adage.com/article/agency-news/draftfcb-officially-fcb/292070/
  4. ^ a b c "The Most Interesting Adman in the World: The Story of Albert Lasker". Under the Influence. CBC Radio. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  5. ^ Arthur W. Schultz, "Albert Lasker's Advertising Revolution," Chicago History, Nov 2002, Vol. 31#2 pp 36-53
  6. ^ "Lord & Thomas". AdAge Encyclopedia of Advertising. 15 September 2003. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  7. ^ "Foote, Cone Advertising Agency Sells 500,000 Shares to Public; Officers Sell Shares". The New York Times. 1963-09-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  8. ^ a b "Interpublic to Acquire True North". adage.com. 2001-03-19. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
  9. ^ "Kmart Picks Draftfcb as Agency of Record," DIRECT 18 April 2007
  10. ^ Morrison, Maureen (10 March 2014). "DraftFCB Officially Changes Name to FCB". AdAge Encyclopedia or Advertising. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  11. ^ Tadena, Nathalie (9 June 2015). "FCB Names Susan Credle as Global Chief Creative Officer". Wall Street Journal.
  12. ^ "Ad Age 2019 A-List No. 7: FCB". 15 April 2019.
  13. ^ "DraftFCB wins Agency of the Year," Scoop 18 April 2008
  14. ^ Campaign Brief February 2008
  15. ^ "FCB Durban named 'Agency of the Year'," Biz Community 11 May 2007
  16. ^ Jennifer Horn (2019-10-31). "Rethink is the 2019 Agency of the Year". strategy. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  17. ^ Josh Kolm (2019-11-05). "2019 Agency of the Year: Digital". strategy. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  18. ^ Nielsen Wire 3 July 2008
  19. ^ "The Greatest Video Game Ad of the Year," Time.com 28 August 2008
  20. ^ ""The Advertising Research Foundation Announces 2011 ARF David Ogilvy Awards Winners" 23 March 2011". Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  21. ^ "" Draftfcb Year 2010 in Review", "Draftfcb.com" 27 April 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  22. ^ ""CREAM 2010 Winners Announced As Draftfcb And Carat Top The Tables!" ADOIMagazine.com". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  23. ^ ""CAANZ Awards 2011 Media Awards Winners" 6 February 2011". Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  24. ^ "DDB wins 2011 NZ Agency of the Year" 17 March 2011
  25. ^ ""2011 Winners Announced for MI6 Game Marketing Awards!," MI6 Game Marketing 7 April 2011". Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  26. ^ Macleod, Duncan (20 June 2012). "Cannes Outdoor Lions 2012". The Inspiration Room. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  27. ^ "2012 David Ogilvy Awards". The Advertising Research Federation. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  28. ^ Elliot, Stuart (24 September 2013). "For Oreo Campaign Finale, a Twist on Collaboration". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  29. ^ "New Zealand's 'driving dogs' pass their test". Australia Network News. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  30. ^ Nudd, Tim (22 October 2012). "Ad of the Day: Kmart". Adweek. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  31. ^ Hsu, Tiffany (3 July 2012). "Taco Bell helicopters 10,000 tacos to Bethel, Alaska after hoax". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  32. ^ "Mannyawards.com 29 April 2011". Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  33. ^ "2013 Manny Awards Winners". Med Ad News Manny Awards. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  34. ^ "Oreo Daily Twist". Facebook. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  35. ^ "One Show 2013 Winners". The Inspiration Room. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  36. ^ Haynes, Megan (23 May 2013). "Draftfcb and PFLAG take a Gold Effie". Strategy Online. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  37. ^ SPIRIVA "Elephant" Campaign, Effie.org
  38. ^ "Duly Noted: DePaul arena gains more critics, and what is the Notre Dame smell?". Chicago Business Journal. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  39. ^ Adweek Staff (16 May 2013). "Mayo Draftfcb Wins Project Isaac Gravity Award". Adweek. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  40. ^ "Cannes Lions Archive-The Works," Cannes Lions Archive http://www.canneslionsarchive.com/the-work/
  41. ^ "Design Experiential Marketing-Bronze Winner," LIA http://2014.liaentries.com/winners/?id_medium=1&id_submedium=44&id_category=0&view=details&range=w&page=33&keyword=&medium=&category=&award=&country=&title_brand=&credits=&company_name=&city=&proceed_simple_search=false&proceed_advanced_search=false
  42. ^ "En El Ojo Innovacion, Brasil fue lider," El Ojo de Iberoamerica http://www.elojodeiberoamerica.com/en-el-ojo-innovacion-brasil-fue-lider/
  43. ^ "Awards-celebrating the finest creative work in the world-Protection Ad," D and AD http://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2015/direct/24627/protection-ad/
  44. ^ "International ANDY Awards 2015 Winners," Coloribus http://www.coloribus.com/festivals-awards/andy-awards/festival-path-26855/
  45. ^ "Protection Ad," ADC Global http://adcglobal.org/awards/winners/adc-94th-annual-awards-winners-night-two/protection-ad/
  46. ^ Creative Circle Press Release. 18 March 2015. Circle Awards 2015 Press Release.pdf [permanent dead link‍]
  47. ^ "British Arrows Finalists Announced". Source E Creative. 19 February 2015 [1]
  48. ^ "The Work".
  49. ^ "Awards-celebrating the finest creative work in the world-This Girl Can," D and AD http://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2015/white-pencil-creativity-for-good/24194/this-girl-can/
  50. ^ "2015 Effie Awards-North America Winners," Effie 4 June 2015 http://current.effie.org/downloads/2015_NAEffies_Winners.pdf
  51. ^ "This top global CEO posts on Instagram up to six times a day – here's why," Business Insider 27 March 2015 http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-murray-fcb-inferno-instagram-2015-3
  52. ^ "See All the Cannes Lions Grand Prix Winners". 20 June 2016.
  53. ^ "The ADC Annual Awards is the oldest continuously running industry award show in the world.""FCB".
  54. ^ "FCB West".
  55. ^ "2023 Kyoto Global Design Awards - Visual category Winner". October 1, 2023. 2023 Kyoto Global Design Awards - Visual category Winner
  56. ^ "New York Festivals Global Awards Announces 2018 Awards". November 16, 2018.
  57. ^ "McEnroe vs. McEnroe". KYOTO GLOBAL DESIGN AWARDS. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  58. ^ "Richard Lewis on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  59. ^ "Our Statement on BullyHunters". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  60. ^ "Twitch". Twitch. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  61. ^ "Bully Hunters organizers shut down campaign after disastrous first stream". Polygon. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  62. ^ "Vertagear". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  63. ^ "Diverse Gaming Coalition". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-07-02.

Further reading