Colle McVoy Wins Vitamix Creative Business

Blender brand Vitamix has named Colle McVoy as its integrated agency of record after a three-month review.

The agency will take charge of Vitamix’s Household portfolio, overseeing creative, media, PR, social, and digital services. The integrated team will operate under the direction of Colle McVoy’s chief creative officer, Ciro Sarmiento.

Marcus Thomas, a Cleveland-based independent agency, was the incumbent, working with Vitamix for the past five years.

The decision to move forward with Colle McVoy was driven by a need for a fresh approach to brand awareness and a strong cultural fit, according to Laura Ostenkamp, vice president of sales and marketing at Vitamix.

“The breadth of proactive research the agency did was impressive and really sealed the deal for us,” Ostenkamp told ADWEEK. “Colle McVoy has significant experience with heritage brands that have been long standing in consumer lives for more than a century. Vitamix is 104 [years-old], and I found myself walking out of the pitch saying, ‘these people get us.’”

The agency appointment comes as Vitamix seeks to expand its reach and build a deeper emotional connection with consumers.

“We wanted to take this moment to recalibrate all of our brand activation partners for Vitamix’s consumer-facing products,” Ostenkamp explained. “Seeing the possibility through Colle McVoy’s brand world lens—tapping into different channels and connecting with consumers with an own-able emotional tie—will rally our go-to-market strategy.”

John Doyle, chief strategy officer at Colle McVoy, emphasized the agency’s “brand world” approach, which provided an immersive proof of concept for the Vitamix experience across product design, retail, and content.

“We quickly realized there was a dichotomy between the Vitamix brand expression, how it’s showing up in the world, and the role Vitamix plays in owners’ lives,” Doyle told ADWEEK. “Do a quick Google search for ‘best blender’ lists, and you’ll see Vitamix is the clear darling in reviews across the globe. If that were enough to be functionally the best blender in the category, period, I’m not sure we’d be needed.”

Doyle said Colle McVoy will seek to highlight Vitamix’s emotional connection with consumers, aligning the brand’s ethos with a lifestyle of quality over quantity.

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“The role Vitamix plays in the user’s life kitchen adventures has this emotional territory that felt so rich for us,” he said. “We showcased how Vitamix doesn’t just satisfy a functional need, it demonstrates an ethos of fewer, better, higher quality things.”

While Vitamix has not disclosed specifics on its media spend, Ostenkamp noted that the brand is shifting toward a digitally-led marketing strategy.

COMvergence estimates Vitamix’s 2024 media spend at $5 million, with 100% of the budget allocated to digital media.

“Our new partnership with Colle McVoy allows us to consolidate our media efforts and evolve our marketing mix toward digitally-led investments,” she said.