Applebee's takes its neighborhood back to the Midwest

Applebee's is going home. The casual-dining chain named BBDO Chicago its new creative agency, ending nearly a decade with Grey and returning the account to the Midwest, where it lived before 2017 with Barkley, the Kansas City shop now known as BarkleyOKRP.

The Omnicom agency won the business in a review led by chief marketing officer Michelle Chin and starts immediately, with the first campaign slated for early next year. The brief goes well beyond value messaging. Chin wants work that strengthens the experience of actually going to the restaurant — distinctive food and drinks, occasions worth leaving the house for, and the idea that Applebee's can still function as a real neighborhood gathering place.

"People are looking for value, but we also recognize that value these days and a great meal are table stakes, and so we need to get to this emotional connection," Chin said.

That's a tall, interesting order for a Chicago agency. Applebee's has spoken the language of community for decades — "Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood" is one of the most durable jingles in the category — but the neighborhood itself has moved online. BBDO Chicago's job is to translate that equity for a generation that increasingly socializes through screens.

For Omnicom, it's a marquee national win at a moment when casual dining is fighting for relevance. For Applebee's, it's a bet that the brand's oldest idea is also its most modern one — if the right shop can make it felt, not just sung.

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →