CHICAGO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After an extensive competitive agency review, GERTRUDE INC. has announced they have been appointed by Smoothie King Franchises, Inc. as the organization's new Brand & Advertising Agency of Record. The agency review included a comprehensive proposal focused on energizing and elevating Smoothie King's branding, innovation, and advertising capabilities. The engagement with the #1 smoothie franchise will include a full range of GERTRUDE services spanning research, strategy, creative, design, new product development, retail, production, and brand activation. Other notable GERTRUDE client partners have included The Hershey Company, DIAGEO's Ketel One Vodka, Quaker Foods (Rice-A-Roni and Near East brands), PepsiCo, Red Bull, and Singha Beer, among others.
Smoothie King conducted a competitive agency review focused on identifying a partner to lead with bold ideas and fully integrated expertise. GERTRUDE's forward thinking combined with proven expertise in connecting brands to culture and lifestyle led to GERTRUDE being named as the AOR over three other agency finalists.
"GERTRUDE's ability to lead strategically while finding unique ways to help brands stand out from inception through activation won over the Smoothie King management team," said Wan Kim, Chief Executive Officer for Smoothie King.
Rebecca Miller, Chief Marketing Officer at Smoothie King, added, "We're so excited to work with GERTRUDE because of their mastery in cultivating and shaping purpose-driven brands in the lifestyle space."
Established in 1973 and based in Dallas, TX, Smoothie King is driven by its mission of "inspiring people to live a healthy and active lifestyle," and their vision of "becoming an integral part of every health and fitness journey." Unknown to many consumers, Smoothie King's original founder also invented the name "smoothie" as well as the product itself. The brand is currently led by CEO Wan Kim, who bought the company 12 years ago.
Smoothie King has been under a major brand transformation for the past several years to actualize their mission, vision, and purpose-driven approach with new initiatives like Clean Blends™—focused on delivering their guests only clean ingredients, without any artificial additives, GMOs, trans-fats, gluten, or un-needed sugars.
GERTRUDE has been tapped to help tell Smoothie King's evolving story, GERTRUDE'S Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Otis D. Gibson, expressed, "We're proud to be entrusted on the front line for Smoothie King, a brand that leads in its category, and have the opportunity to help further expand its reach and propel them toward their next chapter in new and dynamic ways."
GERTRUDE's first work for Smoothie King launched this Summer around National Smoothie Day, June 21, 2022 with the "#SmoothieItOver" campaign that nods to notorious feuds while inviting Healthy Rewards members to smoothie it over with a friend or "former friend." Immediately following, GERTRUDE's "#OriginalAF#SlimAF" campaign spotlights the brand's legendary Angel Food strawberry-banana smoothie with a playful twist—informing guests they now have a choice between Angel Food Original, or brand new, equally delicious Angel Food Slim without added sugar.
GERTRUDE, INC. is a global innovation, brand development, advertising, and marketing services consultancy that creates purpose-driven ideas, new products, and environments where people discover, rediscover, engage, and connect brands to culture. GERTRUDE has produced work for AB InBev, Adidas, CAT Footwear, DIAGEO, The Hershey Company, HP, Mars Wrigley, McDonald's, Microsoft, Near East, Ocean Spray, PepsiCo, Quaker, Red Bull, Rice-A-Roni, Singha Beer, Smoothie King, and Virgin. GERTRUDE operates along with divisions OZ MFG. COMPANY (Design + Digital), RAYE (Experiential + Architecture), and GERTRUDE's HQ building THE BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN™ (Content Factory).
Smoothie King Franchises, Inc., the original U.S. smoothie franchise, is a privately-held, Dallas-based franchise company with over 1,300 locations worldwide. Founded in 1973, Smoothie King has evolved into a lifestyle brand inspiring people to live healthy and active lifestyles via nutritious, great-tasting smoothies. The franchise earned No. 13 overall on Entrepreneur's prestigious Franchise 500 list in 2022 and ranked as one of the Fastest Growing Franchises. The company also debuted on the "Inc. 5000" list in 2018 and ranked as one of Franchise Business Review's Top Franchises of 2022.
AGENCY CONTACT:
Otis D. Gibson
Founder, Chief Creative Officer
312.266.4401
[email protected]
SOURCE GERTRUDE INC.
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