Wieden+Kennedy/MLB
MLB has hired Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, as the league’s “first creative agency of record in eight years,” according to Jameson Fleming of ADWEEK. From year to year, the league has “released an Opening Day campaign," but it has "not turned those campaigns into brand platform ideas.” With W+K at the helm of its creativity, that "will change this season as the league will unveil the start" of a multiyear platform. This year’s work will be “released closer to Opening Day,” and MLB CMO Karin Timpone “isn’t ready to reveal the tagline.” The campaign “won’t just be a singular spot, but a series of ads that will run throughout the season laddering up to the brand platform.” MLB handed W+K the account “without a competitive pitch.” The league “engaged multiple agencies last season” to get its 2022 campaign off the ground, but “ultimately the needs of the league caused it to gravitate toward W+K.” MLB is “entrusting that Wieden will help the league further its goals of reaching fans not just through the game, but integrating baseball better into culture through a number of different outlets like food, fashion and music” (ADWEEK, 3/15).
