Coppell, Texas, Sept. 26, 2011 – CiCi’s Pizza, home of the endless pizza buffet, announces Publicis Dallas as its new agency of record as the company continues its “Build the Brand” growth strategy to add another 500 restaurants in 8-10 years.
Publicis Dallas will handle the $26 million account for CiCi’s, which will include strategic branding, traditional and digital creative communication, and through Publicis Groupe, media planning and buying services. The new campaign will begin rolling out in 2012.
“Publicis demonstrated a clear understanding of the many facets of the CiCi’s guest,” said Nancy Hampton, CiCi’s Pizza chief marketing officer. “We feel confident in the agency’s expertise and fresh approach to delivering relevant, creative and compelling national and local advertising as well as in-restaurant communications. The depth and strength of its media planning and buying also made Publicis the right partner for CiCi’s Pizza.”
Publicis Dallas will succeed Deutsch LA, the agency of record since 2004, and was selected after a ten-week review process. CiCi’s Pizza, with more than 600 restaurants in 35 states, is looking to the agency to help it grow to 1,100+ stores over the next decade.
“We’re pleased to partner with Publicis as we continue to execute our ‘Build the Brand’ growth strategy. We spent considerable time and due diligence in our agency selection process and we have chosen a partner that respects our brand and our guest as much as we do,” said Mike Shumsky, CiCi’s Pizza CEO. “Publicis, with its successes with franchised restaurant and retail brands, combined with top creative, brings a broad range and depth of experience and services to CiCi’s.”
Publicis’ client roster features well-known retail brands like Nestlé, Continental Mills, TruGreen and Terminix. The company’s expertise supporting other franchised, quick service restaurants like Denny’s and International Dairy Queen enabled its team to tap into CiCi’s unique brand attributes.
Sally Kennedy, CEO, Publicis Dallas, stated, “We’re looking forward to building the CiCi’s Pizza brand with distinctive creative, combined with digital innovation. CiCi’s strong community partnerships, compelling price point and exceptional service have set the brand apart for busy families and value-seeking guests. We are honored to be selected to work with the talented team at CiCi’s and anticipate a long, productive partnership.”
About CiCi’s Pizza
Coppell, Texas-based CiCi’s Pizza opened its first restaurant in Plano, Texas in 1985, and is now one of the nation’s fastest growing pizza chains. The family-oriented restaurant is known for its popular pizza, pasta, salad and dessert buffet featuring up to 20 varieties of pizza and fresh ingredients for about $5. The expanding company has 600 restaurants in 35 states and in 2010, it announced plans to add another 500 restaurants in the next 10 years. In 2011, Zagat recognized CiCi’s among its list of most child-friendly fast-food chains and the same year, CiCi’s was named No. 1 in its category in Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 list. In 2010, CiCi’s was named to Inc. Magazine’s top 5,000 list, and to Parents’ list of top family-friendly restaurants. Its commitment to value has been recognized by USA Today, Restaurants & Institutions and Nation’s Restaurant News, which ranked CiCi’s No. 1 in sales and unit growth among pizza chains for the past four years. CiCi’s has also been named one of the top 25 performing brands by The Wall Street Journal and a top 200 franchise concept by Franchise Today.
For more information about CiCi’s, visit www.cicispizza.com or www.facebook.com/cicis.
For franchising information, contact Bruce Evans at bevans@cicispizza.com or 972-745-4318.
About Publicis Dallas
, an integrated marketing communications agency, is a part of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American regional operating unit of Paris-based Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within holding company, Publicis Groupe S.A. Publicis Worldwide creates contagious ideas that change the conversation to the advantage of client businesses and brands. Publicis Dallas clients include Nestlé, GSK and ServiceMaster brands TruGreen and Terminix.
