Silver Spring-based Choice Hotels, a conglomerate of hoteliers operating under the a number of well-known brands - EconoLodge, Comfort Inn, Clarion, Comfort Suites, Rodeway Inn and Clarion Suites – is moving its ad account from Arnold DC, reportedly, to Doner, which is based in Detroit.
We contacted Arnold DC about the account loss and were told: “We at Arnold DC are extremely proud of our nine-year relationship with Choice Hotels International and our accomplishments on its behalf. Choice has undergone tremendous change in the past year, with a new CEO, new CMO and many other personnel shifts in the marketing department. Given the tough economic times, Choice has decided they’d like a new direction for their go-to-market strategy and a new agency to execute that.
“Based on Choice’s decision, Arnold is making the appropriate staffing changes, while ensuring that we remain a vital and strong full-service agency resource in DC. During the past decade, our work played a central role in the evolution of Choice Hotels International, driving positive stock price gains and helping to improve business performance for all the brands in the portfolio, especially flagship brands like Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites.
“We will continue to showcase our successes on behalf of Choice Hotels International as just one example of Arnold DC’s particularly strong expertise in hospitality and tourism. Based on our extensive experience in this category, we look forward to leveraging this expertise for another great travel brand in the near future.”
Of note, The Martin Agency in Richmond was just named agency of record for travel Web site Expedia.com, an acount which Doner had handled since 2006.
Arnold DC is the Washington office of Arnold Worldwide, a top-20 U.S. advertising and marketing agency known for its creativity and results-oriented approach. Arnold DC’s award-winning client list includes Amtrak, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Colonial Williamsburg, McDonald’s and USA Today.