The big news that rocked Michigan Avenue Friday was also bad news for Chicago advertising. Cavalry, the three-year old agency dedicated solely to Coors advertising was routed by the brewery’s new top brass, chief marketing officer David Kroll.
“It’s frankly just time for a change,” he told Ad Age. The split came just five weeks after Kroll was promoted to CMO from MillerCoors VP/innovation since joining the company in 2012 from Dyson vacuum cleaners.
Kroll invited three unidentified (and non WPP) agencies to participate in a review. The new agency is expected to be appointed in mid-to-late September with a mandate to get more aggressive with digital media.
The departing brands are Coors Light Coors Banquet, Redd’s Apple Ale and Smith & Forge Hard Cider.
Coors Light is the second largest beer in the U.S., but stuck in a sales slump, AdAge reported. Estimated billings for the Coors brands were $155.9 million in 2014, according to Kantar Media.
Cavalry was formed in 2012 by CEO Marty Stock, following the brands’ departure from DraftFCB where it had resided since 1979.
Stock had been account manager on MillerCoors at DraftFCB, and FCB before that, for 26 years. Other Cavalry executives also had been on Coors Light and Coors Banquet for many years.
Located at 233 N. Michigan, it employs an around 60. Its other accounts include projects for PepsiCo and Tyson Foods.
