Allstate’s creative will be in new hands in the new year. The Chicago area-based insurer has hired Wieden+Kennedy, Portland to begin work on its account starting in 2023, according to people familiar with the matter.

Wieden will replace Droga5, which Allstate brought on in 2020 to lead its creative account.

When asked about the agency switch, an Allstate spokeswoman provided a statement: “Allstate has built a modern in-house creative agency and we continue to partner with outside agencies to augment our capacity and capabilities.”

Droga5 has appeared to take a backseat with Allstate’s recent work, which has included a heavy dose of Mayhem, the mischievous character played by actor Dean Winters. After unveiling Droga5’s new branding campaign for Allstate in 2019, a series of quirky spots meant to communicate the insurer’s ability to shepherd customers safely through COVID-19, Allstate pivoted a year later and brought back Mayhem. Mayhem again returned to the brand’s advertising mix in early 2022 with work that was created wholly in-house, an Allstate spokeswoman told Ad Age at the time, leaving the insurer’s relationship with Droga5 unclear.

When asked about the account loss, a Droga5 spokesman did not immediately respond. A spokesman from W+K did not return a request for comment on the account win.

The state of Allstate's business

Allstate, along with its insurer competitors such as State Farm and Nationwide, has been up against a rising tide of industry pressure in recent months. The industry is battling climate change, inflation and rising costs of claims, all while trying to attract a new generation of Gen Z customers who remain ambivalent about the need for insurance. The pressure is challenging chief marketing officers in the category to change how they market their brands or risk cuts to the massive marketing budgets they command. Some brands are doubling down on digital marketing and cutting back on broadcast TV as they manage costs and try to better target consumers.

Allstate last month said it was raising its insurance prices amid inflation. It reported third-quarter revenue of $13.2 billion, a 5.8% rise over the year-earlier period, along with a loss of nearly $700 million for the quarter. “While Allstate branded direct sales and marketing investment have been reduced given current auto insurance profitability, execution capabilities were improved,” Tom Wilson, Allstate’s chair, president and CEO, said in a statement.

In 2021, Allstate spent $546.7 million on media in the U.S., a 20% increase over 2020 that represents approximately 2.5% of total sales, according to Ad Age’s Datacenter.

Until it hired Droga5 two years ago, Allstate had worked with Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett, the agency responsible for creating Mayhem as well as the brand’s well-known “You’re In Good Hands” tagline, for decades.

Droga5's accounts and executive moves

Though Droga5 lost IHOP to Pereira O'Dell last spring, the Accenture-owned shop has recently picked up a solid set of agency of record business, including Hard Rock's Sportsbook app and ADCOLOR, along with global agency of record duties for Enphase Energy. In August, Droga5 was named AOR for Chamberlain Group, which most notably owns the garage door brand LiftMaster. Droga5 also was named lead creative agency to develop a new global platform for Levi's as part of the brand's 150th anniversary for its 501 Original jeans.

Meanwhile, there have been significant personnel changes within the Accenture Song and Droga5 ranks this year. Sarah Thompson, the global lead for Accenture Song’s communications unit and former Droga5 global CEO, departed the agency in mid-November. Also in Mid November, Colleen Leddy and Harry Román-Torres were named co-chief strategy officers of Droga5 New York. In May, Wieden+Kennedy vet Jason Kreher stepped into the newly created role chief creative officer, brand, North America at Accenture Song.

In July, Droga5's Co-Chief Creative Officer Tim Gordon departed to join Zulu Alpha Kilo and its other Co-Chief Creative Officer Felix Richter left to join Mother London. Scott Bell was promoted to take over as chief creative officer in New York. Then in May, Droga5 London’s Chief Creative Officer David Kolbusz joined independent agency Orchard. The Droga position was soon filled by Shelly Smoler.

W+K's recent wins and losses

The Allstate win comes as W+K has been picking up significant business of late. The agency was named global lead AOR for Ford, after previously only handling U.S. This year, W+K also was also named AOR for NFT company Boss Beauties and released new work for Hotels.com and Sprite. W+K London was also recently named creative AOR for Marshalls.

However, W+K has also had its share of losses: earlier in the year, KFC named MullenLowe as its creative AOR after working with Wieden+Kennedy for four years. Bud Light also parted ways with Wieden+Kennedy this year following a review that split the business between Stagwell's Anomaly and Interpublic Group of Cos.' Martin. 

W+K had also participated in Allstate’s 2020 review, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Contributing: E.J. Schultz and Brian Bonilla