Communications and entertainment company Cox Communications named Draftfcb‘s Chicago office its national digital and direct-response agency of record after a two-month review, Todd Smith, director of media relations at Cox Communications, confirmed via email on Jan. 16.
Draftfcb’s work for Cox will include direct-response TV, digital marketing and direct mail, Smith said. The agency is charged with developing direct and online marketing campaigns for Cox’s residential and business services.
The hire centralizes Cox’s digital and direct-response marketing, which had been “regionalized, with multiple approaches and partners from headquarters and each field location,” Smith said.
During the review process, Draftfcb focused on “the idea of using behavioral economics to understand how consumers think and make decision,” analytics and creative, said Chris Miller, the agency’s EVP and group management director of digital. “A company like [Cox] has a large amount of data, and you look at direct-response, there’s a large amount of data that goes in and comes out of that. So we provided a pretty interesting way in terms of how to look at that and how to make it actionable,” he said.
Roughly 50 Draftfcb employees will work on the Cox account. Miller said the agency will establish a core leadership team for the account and dedicated teams for Cox’s residential and b-to-b businesses.
Miller said Draftfcb’s first “wholesale” work for Cox will debut “more towards the March timeframe, but you may start to see some pieces here and there along the way.” He added that digital work could roll out earlier.
Smith said that Doner will remain Cox’s brand agency.
“This is another important step in making Cox more competitive nationally,” said Mark Greatrex, SVP and CMO at Cox, in a statement. “Cox is focused on establishing a marketing structure that drives greater consistency and impact in our marketing plans while developing innovative marketing approaches in the telecommunications and entertainment industry.”
Pile and Company consulted on the review.
Advertising Age first reported news of the hire on Jan. 13.
