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January, 2025

McDonald’s adds US creative partner Wieden+Kennedy to Australian roster

McDonald’s Australia has made further changes to its agency roster, this time importing its US creative agency of record Wieden+Kennedy to take on its Aussie business following a competitive pitch process.

Wieden+Kennedy, one of the largest and perhaps most famous independent creative agencies globally, joins the fast food giant’s Australia agency roster alongside creative incumbents DDB, Akcelo, as well as digital agency Digitas and media partner OMD.

“McDonald’s Australia can confirm Wieden+Kennedy has been added to our roster as an additional creative agency partner,” McDonald’s Australia said in a statement shared with Mi3. “The appointment sees the highly successful creative company join our award-winning agency village, which aims to continue to deliver compelling and successful campaigns to drive our brand and business forward.”

McDonald’s would not confirm which part of the Australian business Wieden+Kennedy will be assigned to, however reports from LLB suggest the agency will commence its remit with Chicken and McCafe.

It’s understood the agency will service the account via a small core team on the ground which will draw on talent from the existing W+K network that will or have already relocated, as well as new local talent – several people have already been hired with the team expected to grow as needed.

Wieden+Kennedy has worked with McDonald’s since 2019, when it was first appointed as the company’s lead creative agency in the US. The agency had replaced Omnicom’s DDB and We Are Unlimited – the bespoke agency DDB had formed to service the US account just three years prior.

In 2023 McDonald’s appointed Wieden+Kennedy to its Canadian account, and last year, the agency picked up the brand’s US Happy Meal business, effectively ending McDonald’s relationship with DDB in the market.

In a statement, Wieden+Kennedy said it was excited to expand its relationship with the brand into Australia and to “bring to life unique fan truths that celebrate what makes Macca’s so special to people”. “After working with this brand for the past 5+ years, it’s no secret that our love for McDonald’s runs deep.”

McDonald’s Australia has said it was drawn to Wieden+Kennedy’s “understanding of our fans and creative approach”.

“We would like to acknowledge and thank the other agencies who participated in the process,” the company added.