Applebee’s Picks McCann – Hope The Food Improves

Applebee’s has awarded creative duties on its $180 million advertising account to McCann Erickson. “We believe the concept McCann presented to us fits perfectly with our brand strategy,” said George Williams, the company’s chief marketing officer. Yeah… and what would that be? You know what you have to do M.E. employees. Hit us at: agencyspy at mediabistro dot com with the details. Create a fake gmail account if you have too. We’re dying to know.

Meanwhile, McCann took the business from Draft/FCB and beat out TBWA\Chiat\Day in the pitch process. Both shops had presented strategies that revolved around a “younger, more energetic” positioning. Now, if you recall, Applebee’s tried getting with the kids before to disastrous results via Deep Focus, Suzuki and CourtTV. Let’s hope McCann does a better job.