Truly Hard Seltzer has named Ogilvy its creative agency of record following a competitive pitch.
The account will be led out of the WPP shop's New York City office, which will take over global strategic and creative duties from Goodby Silverstein & Partners.
Ogilvy's account win comes as the hard seltzer category is struggling. Overall sales volume dropped 19% in the four weeks ending Dec. 10, according to a recent report from beer trade magazine Beer Marketer's Insights, citing Nielsen data. The Boston Beer Co.-owned Truly, which is second to White Claw in market share, sagged during the same period while White Claw continued to increase its hold on the category, according to the publication.
Truly launched its first spirits-based seltzer, Truly Vodka Seltzer, on National Vodka Day in October.
“We aim to bring fresh thinking to how Truly shows up in the world and are excited to kick things off with our new partners at Ogilvy,” Lesya Lysyj, Boston Beer Co.'s chief marketing officer, said in a statement.
Goodby Silverstein & Partners had worked with Truly since 2019, when the hard seltzer market took off.
The Omnicom shop was responsible for recent Truly campaigns including “Do It for the Flavor,” which celebrated drinkers’ adventurous sides, and “Our Best Flavors,” which promoted the addition of real fruit juice to the brand’s entire lineup.
"The scope of the account had gotten very small for us," said Jeff Goodby, the agency's co-chairman and partner, noting that the shop did not have to make any staff reductions as result of the loss. "I look forward to seeing what they do next."
Goodby confirmed the agency still holds Boston Beer Co.'s Sam Adams creative account, which it won in 2019.
Contributing: E.J. Schultz
