Wendy’s Gets The Love Bug

AdAge.com:

Last Wednesday morning a young woman with freckles, bright-red pigtails and a blue dress stepped out of the elevator on the 16th floor of Saatchi’s New York office. She flounced up to the office of agency CEO Kevin Roberts and handed him a gold statue, with a little note taped to it. It read simply: ‘Call Ian Rowden.’

That was the moment Mr. Roberts knew for sure that Wendy’s wanted Saatchi to turn it into a Lovemark, the agency chief’s trademarked - and heavily marketed - name for a brand that establishes a stronger, maybe even mystical, connection with the consumer. Mr. Rowden, the chain’s chief marketing officer, had decided to take his $300 million creative and media accounts out of Interpublic Group of Cos.‘ McCann Erickson and Universal McCann and give them to Publicis Group’s Saatchi & Saatchi and MediaVest. The decision was made without any formal pitches or presentations from agencies.

Second major pickup…