Subway has completed a review of its U.S. creative agencies, ADWEEK has learned.
Publicis’ Leo New York has won the creative account. Dentsu was the incumbent and defended the business, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“Subway has selected Publicis as its lead U.S. creative agency of record following a competitive RFP process. Anchored in Leo NY, they will lead a fresh, new guest-centric creative strategy designed to build on Subway’s leadership in sandwiches,” a spokesperson said.
“Dentsu Creative has been a valued lead creative agency partner for the U.S. market for nearly eight years, and they will continue to work with us on various marketing activities,” the spokesperson continued.
The media portion of the review is on track to wrap at the end of the second quarter, according to another familiar source. Dentsu is the incumbent and defending the account.
Both Publicis and Dentsu declined to comment. R3, which is running the review, also declined to comment.
Subway consolidated its North American media and creative business with Dentsu in 2017 under a bespoke unit called The Franchise, which included agencies Carat, Mcgarrybowen, and DentsuBos.
The quick-service restaurant chain, which is one of the largest in the U.S., spent an estimated $325 million on paid media last year, according to COMvergence.
The loss is the second blow to Dentsu this week, which lost the search account for Spectrum to Horizon Media in a competitive review that wrapped last week.
Publicis Groupe announced the formation of Leo in January, when it merged Leo Burnett and Publicis Worldwide into a single creative network.
Subway sold to private equity firm Roark Capital for $9.6 billion in April 2024, marking the first time the sandwich chain changed owners since it was founded by Fred DeLuca in 1965. Roark owns other QSR companies including Inspire Brands (Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Dunkin’) and GoTo Foods (Auntie Ann’s, Carvel, and Cinnabon).
The agency change comes amid a leadership shakeup at Subway.