McKinney (advertising agency) facts for kids
| Industry | Advertising, Marketing, Experiential Marketing, Media, Strategy |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1969 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | |
|
Area served
|
Global |
| Parent | Cheil Worldwide |
McKinney is an advertising agency based in Durham, North Carolina, with offices in Los Angeles and New York City.
Campaigns
The Art of the Heist
Alternate Reality Game
Where is my Gnome?
SPENT (online game)
History
McKinney was founded in 1969 as McKinney & Silver by Charles "Chick" McKinney & Mike Silver and is now led by CEO Brad Brinegar.
In 2003, McKinney became one of the first agencies to pioneer connection planning, which determines the most innovative and creative ways of bringing brands and people together in mutually beneficial ways.
In 2004, McKinney moved from Raleigh to Durham and took over what is now 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of vintage factory space on the American Tobacco Campus. Ten years later, Brad Brinegar was featured in the short documentary "Because No One Would," which was produced by Goodtree & Company and Horizon Productions to celebrate the factory's restoration anniversary.
In 2006, McKinney combined its three strategic disciplines (account planning, connection planning and interactive strategy) into one strategic offering and named Andrew Delbridge, previously director of account planning, partner and chief strategy officer.
In 2008, McKinney's management acquired 100% interest in the agency from Havas.
In April 2012, McKinney participated in “The Pitch,” AMC Network’s unscripted series that follows two ad agencies over seven days vying for the same piece of business. In Episode 1, McKinney was up against Los Angeles-based WDCW to create a campaign for SUBWAY restaurants. SUBWAY’s marketing team chose McKinney’s “Freestyle Breakfast” campaign idea featuring Mac Lethal, whose YouTube video of a rap about pancakes has been viewed more than 32 million times.
In July 2012, McKinney became part of Cheil Americas, "a regional network of agency partners then led by CEO Buz Sawyer." At the end of 2012, the agency joined forces with Dognition, a venture aimed at strengthening relationships between dogs and their owners by better understanding how dogs think (canine cognition or dognition). "The agency's contributions to Dognition include market research, marketing and brand development, and designing the look and feel and user experience of its website. McKinney, which has an ownership stake in Dognition, also is housing the eight-employee company at its offices at the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham."
In January 2013 McKinney opened an office in New York.
McKinney was named one of 10 agencies to watch by Ad Age in January 2015.
As of August 2016, McKinney's clients include Samsung, ESPN, Sherwin-Williams, CarMax, Crocs, Norwegian Air, TuneIn, Sennheiser, Dognition and Urban Ministries of Durham.
Notable campaigns
- Where is my Gnome? – Travelocity
- The Art of the Heist – Audi
- College Football Championship – ESPN
- No One Gets a Diploma Alone – Ad Council
- Family Hub: Birthday Party – for Samsung Electronics. One of a series of commercials produced from 2014-2016 with Dax Shepard and his wife, Kristen Bell
- SPENT – Urban Ministries of Durham. An online experience depicting life on the brink of homelessness that has received 10 million views since 2011.
- Getting Greenie – CarMax
- Payback – Next Gen Personal Finance
- Competitive Sleeping League — Marpac
- Stop HB2 – Equality NC and Human Rights Campaign
