Zaxby’s has placed its media account in review, according to people familiar with the matter, another potential loss for independent Empower Media. It comes in the wake of the agency losing dozens of people and two other large accounts this year.
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Zaxby’s puts media account in review in another potential loss for Empower
Move comes less than a year after win was announced and follows departures of Empower staff and other clients
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The review does not involve creative, which is handled by Tombras.
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Zaxby's
The move comes almost a year since the announcement that Empower won Zaxby’s, and 10 months after a controlling stake in the agency was sold to a group led by Ashlee Clarke, who’s also CEO of New York creative and media agency NitroC.
Also read: Inside Empower’s staff exodus to P&G
The Zaxby’s review does not involve creative for the sandwich chain, which is handled by Tombras. The Burnett Collective consulting firm is leading the review, according to a person familiar with the matter. The firm’s principal, Casey Burnett, did not immediately return a call and email for comment. It was not clear whether Empower would be defending the account.
Patrick Schwing, Zaxby’s chief marketing officer, and a corporate communications executive for Zaxby’s Franchising LLC, did not immediately respond to requests for comment via LinkedIn. An Empower spokesman declined to comment on the account.
Zaxby’s spent $30 million in measured media last year and $15 million through the first half of 2023, according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics.
Atlanta-based Zaxby’s was a signature win for Empower a year after the Cincinnati-based agency opened an Atlanta office in 2021. The account includes local and national planning and buying as well as leading use of first-party data for a restaurant chain with more than 900 locations and plans to double that footprint over five years, according to a release from Empower last year.
Empower has seen at least 14 staffers leave for Cincinnati-based packaged-goods giant Procter & Gamble Co. since February, prompting the agency to issue a cease-and-desist letter to P&G. LinkedIn profiles show more than 100 people overall leaving Empower for a host of other companies since February, including Kroger Co., Walgreens, Target (Roundel), The Trade Desk, Publicis Media, Omnicom Media Group, WPP’s GroupM and S4 Capital’s Media.Monks.
Two top clients—Bush Brothers and Brooks Running—departed Empower earlier this year, though a spokesman for the agency earlier this month said those moves were in the works prior to the Jan. 12 announcement of the agency’s sale, and that the accounts were not factored into the purchase price
Some former employees and others close to the agency cite a culture clash of incumbent employees with Clarke and her husband and executive chairman Chris Clarke. Former CEO and majority owner Jim Price took an early exit after originally being scheduled to remain as non-executive chairman through January 2024.
Empower employment topped out at 233, prior to a 15% reduction that took place before the merger, according to an agency spokesman. The spokesman said that the agency currently employs around 170 people and is tracking toward having 100 in Chicago by the end of the year. Another executive familiar with the agency said employment topped out above 275, and a search on LinkedIn shows fewer than 100 people currently with Empower.
