Hot on the heels of BBDO’s announcement that it won AOR for Molson Coors Canada’s Coors Light and Keystone brands, the beer company said the move was part of a larger agency shuffle.
Molson Coors announced it has moved all its business from DraftFCB to BBDO and Rethink. Draft FCB previously handled Coors Light, Keystone and Molson Export in Canada.
Rethink, previously the agency of record for Molson Canadian and Rickard’s, adds Molson Export to its portfolio.
The decision “was based on Molson Coors Canada’s initiative to continue to streamline and consolidate [our] existing agency relationships,” the company said in a press release.
“We believe that BBDO and Rethink are two of the strongest agencies in Canada and have great beer experience,” Jennifer Davidson, vice-president of marketing at Molson Coors Canada, told Marketing.
With respect to Coors Light, “BBDO has very strong digital capabilities, so going to a shop that has an integrated approach to delivering a creative solution is important for us,” Davidson said. “When we were looking at where we were going to streamline, they were at the top of the list.”
Last May, MillerCoors and DraftFCB parted ways in the U.S., but the move did not affect Canadian relationships at the time. “While we were aware of it, we work quite independently and that didn’t have an impact on our business and our decision,” said Davidson.
Davidson credited DraftFCB with helping Coors Light grow to be the number one brand in Canada. “They are a good agency and they should feel really proud of the work they’ve done on Coors Light over all of those years,” she said.
It is expected that the transition of work between the agencies should be take until the end of May.
