Wieden+Kennedy Enters Australia, Setting Up Sydney Outpost After Winning McDonald's
Wieden+Kennedy will enter the Australian market, setting up a Sydney outpost after winning a big chunk of the McDonald's Australia creative account, LBB can confirm.
The American agency will start with a small core team on the ground in Sydney after beating pitch contenders Droga5 and a model similar to that of +61 for Telstra. That team will include talent from across the W+K network, in addition to Australian hires. It has already hired a handful of people in Sydney, and will grow its Australian presence as necessary.
Wieden+Kennedy also works with McDonald's in the US and Canada. Last year, it won the Happy Meal business in the US, adding to its remit and ending McDonald's US' relationship with DDB. In Australia, its remit will start with Chicken and McCafe, LBB understands.
In October, LBB revealed the account was up for pitch, with the brand searching among its global roster of agencies for an Australian partner. DDB Sydney, which has worked with McDonald's since it entered the Australian market 53 years ago, will still work with the brand, but its remit will be reduced.
Wieden+Kennedy told LBB in an exclusive interview that it will "find the unique fan truths that make McDonald’s special in that market."
"The team in Australia have set a very specific goal to make work that brings these fan insights to life and find their ways into culture," the agency said.
"We couldn’t be more excited to work more closely with this team to do that."
When asked whether W+K will begin competing in other local pitches, the agency said its "priority first and foremost is McDonald's".
"We have deep love for this brand and success to us is getting this started off right in Australia with work that makes McDonald’s proud. More generally, our approach to expansion will always be built around growing relationships with current clients first, vs growing to get bigger for ourselves."
McDonald's Australia also confirmed Wieden+Kennedy's win.
"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," a spokesperson said.
"We were incredibly impressed by W&K’s understanding of our fans and creative approach and we are excited to work with them, alongside our existing agency partners - DDB, OMD, Akcelo and Digitas - in 2025."
Late last year, Digitas retained the brand's CRM account following a competitive pitch. All up, the local business is worth around $15m, LBB understands, including creative, retail, and PR.
Wieden+Kennedy's recent work for McDonald's has included launching the Chicken Big Mac in the US, and the Grinch Meal in Canada. In the UK, McDonald's works with Leo Burnett.
