Tech companies like Facebook and Google are selling creative ad services. Media agencies are increasingly selling digital ad space. And now, a creative agency is playing the line-blurring game as it brings digital publishing and agency staffers together to service one massive account.
McDonald’s said Monday it will consolidate its creative account with Omnicom Groupfollowing a months-long review in which the incumbents, Omnicom-owned DDB andPublicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett duked it out for the coveted business.
DDB didn’t win on its own. Employees from Google, Facebook and the New York Times’ content studio T Brands supported the pitch, and they will be embedded at an agency that Omnicom is customizing for McDonald’s, DDB CEO Wendy Clark said in an interview.
Staffers from the outside companies will support content creation and contribute to a team of around 200 employees, including people from Omnicom Media Group’s digital-buying and data hub Annalect, its small creative shop Sparks & Honey and its digital agency Critical Mass, among other agencies.