Panera Bread puts creative business in review

Panera Bread is conducting a review for its creative business, Ad Age has learned. The review, which is said to be handled by consultancy Pile and Company, follows the August hiring of former Papa Johns Chief Marketing Officer Mark Shambura as Panera’s chief marketer. Mother New York is the incumbent on the account. The independent shop, which had worked with Panera Bread since late 2020, was invited to pitch for the business but declined to do so, according to an agency spokesperson. Panera wasn’t immediately available for comment. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The St. Louis-based fast-casual chain had U.S. measured-media spending of $91 million in the first two quarters of 2024, according to Vivvix, which includes paid social data from Pathmatics, compared to $86 million in the first half of 2023. It spent $187 million in U.S. measured media during all of 2023. Before Mother—the fifth agency to work with Panera in the last 12 years—Panera worked with Omnicom’s Goodby Silverstein & Partners on a project basis. That partnership came after it ended its relationship with its previous creative agency of record, Stagwell’s Anomaly, after six years of working together. Cramer-Krasselt resigned from the account after two years in 2014, with its CEO calling the relationship dysfunctional. Prior to that, the account was at Mullen (now MullenLowe), but they split over what the agency described as creative differences. Wooing price-weary consumers Shambura joined Panera as food chains compete to win back consumers tired of high prices. The company simplified its menu in April to highlight meals under $10, and it tried to connect with millennial consumers on National Avocado Day by creating a “Millennial Meal” of avocado toast with an iced coffee. Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here In 2022, Panera debuted its Unlimited Sip Club, a $14.99 monthly subscription plan that allows members to enjoy any size drink every two hours, including free refills—a focus of the brand’s summer marketing. In May, Panera stopped selling Charged Lemonde caffeine drinks after they had become the subject of multiple wrongful death lawsuits. Panera parent company JAB Holding Company also owns Keurig Dr Pepper, Pret, Peet’s Coffee and Krispy Kreme. As of September, 2,176 bakery cafes—both company-owned and franchised—operated under the Panera Bread or Saint Louis Bread Co. names across 48 states, Washington, D.C. and Ontario, Canada. Contributing: Judann Pollack Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2024 U.S. ad spending, rankings, analysis and profiles for the biggest marketers Click here

Panera Bread puts creative business in review

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