Academy Sports + Outdoors selected Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) as the company’s agency of record. The Chicago office of FCB will partner with the Academy team to develop overall brand positioning and a marketing communications strategy with a focus on driving awareness and sentiment, traffic and sales.
“As we expand from a regional to a national retailer, we need a partner and support team that understands how our brand translates to sports and outdoors enthusiasts in new and different geographies,” said Tom Lamb, chief marketing officer, Academy Sports + Outdoors. “We believe FCB provides Academy with the best combination of strategic leadership, creative excellence, retail experience and a fundamental understanding of the consumer landscape.”
FCB has a broad range of capabilities, including digital and traditional creative, in-house production and content development, in-store experience and retail design, along with sports marketing expertise. The company believes these capabilities will serve Academy well in its ongoing expansion effort.
“Academy has an incredible foundation in the South, and we believe the brand has the potential to build on this and offer consumers something truly unique in the sporting goods and outdoor categories,” said Michael Fassnacht, CEO and president of FCB Chicago.
Academy awarded its account to FCB after an extensive agency review process. As a fully integrated partner, FCB will collaborate with Academy to drive strategy development to elevate the brand and creative across all channels, manage media production, market research and competitive analysis.
The $4.6 billion retailer operates more than 225 stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, where the company is based.
With more than 8,000 people in 109 operations in 80 countries, FCB is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.
Photo courtesy Academy Sports
