After a competitive review, El Pollo Loco has dropped incumbent agency Organic and handed its creative business to Innocean USA, charging the Southern California shop with reviving the 50-year-old QSR for the next generation of diners.
The move comes amid El Pollo Loco’s broader effort to reintroduce itself to a younger, more culturally attuned audience while retaining its legacy fanbase. The three-month pitch process resulted in a rare outcome: Innocean’s winning idea didn’t just secure the business—it’s shaping the entire brand relaunch, which will go live nationally on May 15.
“We’re in year two of a three-year brand turnaround,” Jill Adams, El Pollo Loco’s CMO, told ADWEEK. “The business is incredibly healthy—our food is incredible—but really it’s more around how we show up for the next 50 years, and how we appeal to the next generation of El Pollo Loco customers.”
Adams described the upcoming campaign as an “evolution, not a revolution.” While the brand will retain its logo and color palette, the refresh will focus more heavily on quality and freshness, highlighting both the food and the moments in which it’s enjoyed. The creative campaign, meanwhile, will run across traditional, digital, and social channels. A sneak peek is expected during the brand’s May 1 earnings call.
To guide the pitch, El Pollo Loco partnered with consultancy The Burnett Collective. From an initial wide field, the brand narrowed candidates down based on several “non-negotiables,” including regional presence and QSR experience. After chemistry meetings, the team selected three finalists.
Innocean, a late addition to the field, edged out competitors by frequently communicating throughout the process to evolve its pitch into a fully realized brand platform.
“We were giving the time and the space for a lot of feedback through the process,” Adams said. “That ultimately allowed Innocean to land on an idea that informed the brand relaunch.”
The winning pitch also centered on the insight that El Pollo Loco’s customer is a “fast foodie”—a person who balances a love for social engagement with moments of personal reflection and care. “That insight really helped us drive how we think about the brand refresh, how El Pollo Loco can be a part of that journey just by knowing this duality of our customer,” Adams added.
Innocean chief creative officer Jason Sperling said the win marks a new chapter for the agency as well. “I don’t know if we are showing up on people’s radar yet, but we’re definitely changing that,” Sperling told ADWEEK. “One of the best compliments we received (besides winning the pitch) was being told by the consultants and clients is that this wasn’t the Innocean they knew. That means a lot given the evolution we’ve gone through and talent we’ve brought in.”