Ancestry hires Wieden+Kennedy as it tries to become more interactive

Ancestry has named Wieden+Kennedy its lead creative agency in the U.S. in an effort to broaden consumers' view of the genealogy company. The aim is to make Ancestry a more social and interactive experience, encouraging family members to collaborate, rather than users approaching Ancestry as a solo endeavor to research family history. Ancestry VP, Global Creative and Brand Marketing Paige Grossman said that Wieden had a clear point of view on how to make the brand that’s associated with the past “relevant in the present.” As a first step, the company launched a “Storymaker Studio” in its app where users can upload and enhance photos and images, record and upload audio files, integrate photos with audio, and post their own stories to their family trees, on their personal social channels, and across the Ancestry community. “There's actually a lot of people who want to do their family history and share it with their extended family,” said Grossman. “When you do that you have a greater level of success, because now you're tapping your entire family to put pieces together of a puzzle that you're all putting together.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The company's research showed that 78% of its new subscribers have shared what they’ve uncovered at Ancestry with others and that 65% of Americans want to learn about family to share what they learn with others. This choice of W+K marks the first time in four years that the company, which had been utilizing its in-house creative team for most of its work, will be working with a lead agency. From January to September 2022, Ancestry spent $48.6 million, on measured media, according to Vivvix and $84.5.million for all of 2021. The company previously worked with Anomaly, including as recently as 2019. Solo vs. family The new direction comes as Ancestry looks to spark renewed interest in the DNA category, which has “slowed down” in recent years, according to Grossman. By positioning Ancestry with a wider storytelling lens, it gives consumers more reasons for users to engage with the company more frequently. “We don't have an awareness problem,” Grossman said. “We have a problem that [Ancestry] is always there. So there's not a lot of urgency to keep going back to the brand.” As part of its scope, which includes a campaign for Ancestry in the third quarter of this year, the agency will help the company rethink its company mission and brand platform, which it hadn’t done since 2018. While the new platform will have a “global lens,” the agency will mainly be focused on work in the U.S., UK, and Canada, said Grossman. Wieden “respected and understood that we want to build upon our current heritage,” she said. “We're not looking for a record scratch.” Evoking Jealousy The review for Ancestry, which was acquired by Blackstone for $4.7 billion in 2020, was facilitated by Jonny Bauer, the head of Blackstone's brand strategy and transformation team, and Katy Alonzo, principal, brand strategy and transformation. Bauer said three agencies pitched, but he declined to name the other two contenders. Bauer said that Wieden’s work for McDonald’s and Ford impressed Ancestry. “[The agency] really found ways previously to tap into very clear, very ownable, very disarming truths that were a purpose fit for those brands,” Bauer said. “A lot of people like to talk badly about McDonald's, but when they lean into the truth around the fandom connected to that brand, it's really persuasive and really motivating and yielded really breakthrough creative.” Weiden “also had a very kind of clear and collaborative process where we felt that they would definitely listen to us but not listen too much to us,” Bauer added. Related: What Jonny Bauer is up to at Blackstone Entertainment space Forty-year-old Ancestry is the category leader with 23 million people in its DNA network. There are challengers in the space, such as 23andMe, but Grossman said that 23andMe, which received a $300 million investment from GSK in 2018, leans more into the health space, whereas Ancestry no longer has a health offering. “Ancestry has a way of differentiating ourselves from our other competitors by really trying to own this kind of community space and by really trying to encourage personalization of of your family's story,” Grossman said. “We don't see other big names doing that right now. And I think by encouraging families to come together, it will likely start to feel more like an entertainment space.”

Ancestry hires Wieden+Kennedy as it tries to become more interactive

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