Raise a Blizzard, y’all. Firehouse has been named Agency of Record for Texas Dairy Queen. The announcement comes following a competitive review for the business over the summer.
As Texas Dairy Queen’s AOR, Firehouse will oversee creative direction, strategy, media planning and buying, and social media strategy and management. As one of the Lone Star state’s signature brands, Firehouse will build on Texas Dairy Queen’s strong Texan ties as they launch new work in early 2018.
Tripp Westbrook, Firehouse’s Executive Creative Director and CMO had this to say about the win: “We felt a connection with Lou and TDQ from the very beginning and knew there was an opportunity to sharpen both their strategy and creative and deliver them through a modern, multi-channel media mix. As one of Texas’ signature brands, they deserve nothing less.”
While Dairy Queen wasn’t born in Texas, it got here as fast as it could 67 years ago and now makes up 10% of the entire Dairy Queen system. Texas Dairy Queen’s 596 restaurants offer the brand’s signature frozen desserts, burgers and baskets in addition to a few menu items only available for Texans. Firehouse is already hard at work on new strategies that will celebrate the iconic nature of the brand while making Texans hungry again.
Lou Romanus, CEO of Texas Dairy Queen Operators’ Council (TDQOC) was pleased with the selection, saying: “Franchisee systems like ours can pose some interesting challenges for an agency. We were really impressed with the way Firehouse was able to dig into our diverse markets, uncover new data and insights and deliver a compelling new plan for us moving forward. To their credit, they have the ability to communicate some very complex thinking in a way that is simplified and easy to digest.”
This new relationship with Texas Dairy Queen comes as Firehouse celebrates its 20th year and the launch of its new identity and website. Stay tuned for new work in 2018.
