House Worldwide was founded in March 2013 by former Publicis Worldwide chief operating officer
Richard Pinder and is a venture that promises to connect marketers
with a global network of partners that include Naked Communications, Kitchen 8 in Singapore
and Rhino Worldwide in Houston, among others.
The team will include creative and account teams from DraftFCB
San Francisco and Los Angeles, who will work with the House
Worldwide's network of teams that include ChinaMadrid in Spain and
CumminsRoss from Australia. Dominic Whittles, who runs DraftFCB's
San Francisco operation, will oversee North America, while Mr.
Pinder will handle international markets for Levi's.
"We are very excited about this new model," said Levi's Chief
Marketing Officer Jen Sey. "We're getting handpicked creative
talent from DraftFCB and the House network at both the global and
local-market level. This model will provide us with the efficiency
and consistency we need as a global brand as well as the means to
drive relevance around the world by accessing top‐notch local
talent when we need it."
Prior to Wieden & Kennedy, the brand worked with Publicis
Groupe's Bartle Bogle Hegarty. When Wieden took on the
American account for Levi's, BBH remained the agency for Europe and Asia.
The agency completely parted ways with Levi's in 2010.
Levi's has gone through a number of senior-management changes,
including marketing executives, in recent years. The company in
August promoted Ms. Sey, its then-senior VP of e-commerce, to the
role of global chief marketing officer. She replaced Rebecca Van
Dyck, who left Levi's in February 2012 for a marketing post at
Facebook. During her 10-month tenure at Levi's, Ms. Van Dyck
oversaw the launch of the brand's first global campaign, "Go
Forth."
It's not yet clear what the creative from DraftFCB and House
Worldwide will entail. A Levi's spokewoman said that "the Levi's
brand is about the spirit of authenticity and self-expression. That
is at the heart of 'Go Forth', and that spirit will live on. That
said, we are also seeking to bring an optimistic and product
focused approach to all that we do."
For DraftFCB, the win comes after its new CEO, Carter Murray,
who joined in September, has made a number of executive changes.
They include the recruitment of former Publicis execs Chris
Shumaker and Nigel Jones, DraftFCB's North American chief marketing
officer and worldwide chief strategy officer, respectively. The
shop also named Morgan Shorey, also a Publicis alum, as senior
VP-strategic business development.
The Levi's is one of the first major wins on Mr. Murray's watch.
Prior to his arrival, DraftFCB picked up Aramark and retained
Kmart, while adding some of Kmart's fashion-marketing business.
Despite its iconic status as a brand, Levi's is not a big media
spender. The company spent about $39.4 million on U.S. measured
media in 2012, roughly the same as 2011, according to Kantar
Media.