Dive Brief:
- WPP's Grey has been named Adweek's global agency of the year for 2015.
- For its first announcement since receiving the Adweek honor, WPP’s Grey said it had closed a deal with Bose to become the audio company's first global creative agency of record.
- The Bose account will be handled by Grey’s New York and London offices.
Dive Insight:
Before announcing Grey as its lead creative agency, Bose worked in-house and with agencies on an as-needed basis. The move was likely spurred by increasing competition from headphone maker Beats by Dre.
Curiously enough, Grey’s Worldwide Creative Chief Tor Myhren is leaving Grey to join Apple, which owns Beats by Dre, as vp of marketing communications.
According to Kantar Media, Bose spent $20 million in the first three quarters this year, down from $93 million the same timeframe in 2014. Its full year spending last year was close to $135 million.
Grey was chosen after a review that included at least four agencies, according to Ad Age. The deal also comes out of a year filled with agency reviews in which Grey gained Emirates Airline, Motorola and Pandora Jewelry as well as expanding its relationship with P&G.