Multichannel apparel retailer Dickies has named Omnicom Group’s Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P) its first agency of record after 87 years in business.
Beginning next year, the agency will work with Dickies to develop marketing campaigns and creative, as well as to provide strategic media planning, production, digital marketing, e-commerce and account management support. GS&P beat out 50 others who pitched for the business, including Publicis Dallas, which was a finalist.
“We really wanted to take our creative to the next level, and Goodby can help us do this,” said Chris Prokopeas, VP of marketing at Dickies.
The decision to hire an agency, rather than to continue developing marketing collateral in-house, is part of Dickies’ change in strategy that it implemented last year.
As a part of the brand reshaping, Dickies extended its work wear line of clothing and released a collection for “after work.” The idea is to retain core customers with the classic work wear, but also to expand into a younger marketplace and acquire new customers.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Dickies employed Jones Lundin Beals as consultants during the agency search process.
“We are trying to be more expansive,” Prokopeas added. “It is a big part of why we are working with an agency.”
By hiring GS&P, Dickies will free up its marketing department to focus on retail and in-store experiences. It will work on point-of-sale systems, fixtures and signage for the brand’s 20 retail stores.
“When we did consumer research, we found that the final purchase decision is often still made in store,” explained Prokopeas.
Goodby will support Dickies across all channels including retail, e-commerce and catalog. While Prokopeas could not say what specific work the company has in mind, he did say that the agency will focus on digital.
Prior Dickies work, which had been developed in-house, includes the long-running “Legend in work” and current “Wear with purpose” brand campaigns. The “Wear with purpose” effort launched in June and ran in print and online, as well as at point-of-sale locations. Both taglines focus on the functional nature of the Dickies clothing line.
The “Wear with purpose” campaign was the first effort that Dickies created to reach out to a new customer base. The ads featured real-life people wearing the clothing, along with their philosophies on life. For instance, a print ad starring stunt motorcyclist Ryan Suchanek, who has a prosthetic leg, ran along with a quote of his life philosophy: “I take care of my family, my co-workers and my bikes. The small stuff can take care of myself.”
In addition to its partnership with GS&P, Dickies will continue to work with other agencies. The company employs Edelman for PR, Hornall Anderson for brand strategy and Millward Brown for market research. Another Omnicom agency, BBDO, will support the brand’s international advertising efforts. Dickies previously worked with Mullen for media planning and buying.
GS&P’s work includes the “Got milk?” and “Budweiser frogs” campaigns. It has also created work for Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Frito-Lay, Sprint, Nintendo Wii, Häagen-Dazs, Quaker and the NBA.
Dickies creative developed by GS&P is expected to debut in the second half of next year.
