FCB had been widely tipped to lose the account, although it did make the shortlist in August alongside BBDO Worldwide and J Walter Thompson.
All three agencies are Chicago-based and were selected from an initial list of six shops. In July, Boeing announced it would be selecting a global advertising firm in Chicago, in conjunction with the move of its world headquarters to the same city. The search was expected to conclude in October. FCB Seattle had previously headed up the account.
The win is a ray of light for the agency, which has been hard hit by account losses since its sale as part of True North to the Interpublic Group of Companies. It has lost such major accounts as AT&T and PepsiCo, which is currently trying to block members of its staff from working with rival Coca-Cola.
The account includes activity for Boeing at the corporate level and for several business units. Boeing's internal advertising council is conducting the ad agency search.
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