World-famous White Castle restaurant chain tapped Zimmerman as the full-service agency for its 400-plus restaurants.

The Columbus, Ohio-based firm, worked with consultant Lorraine Rojek of RCG in White Castle’s search for a new agency to replace incumbents JWT and Mindshare. White Castle had worked with JWT for 15 years.

“White Castle is ready to evolve its brand within a new marketplace,” says Kim Bartley, vice president of marketing for the cult burger maker. “We have chosen Zimmerman for the agency’s undeniable focus on results, and the brand sensibility they will bring to distinguishing White Castle from the competition and imitators that has certainly developed over eighty years.”

“They are a pioneering company with an amazing connection to their loyalists,” says Michael Goldberg, executive vice president, CMO for Zimmerman. “Our mission will be to add currency to the White Castle story and invite a new generation of ‘cravers’ to the brand that invented the ‘Slyder’.”

With deep results in the food secto–and far beyond–Zimmerman is tasked with the evolution of a classic. “White Castle is the origina–loved by millions of loyal cravers,” says Founder and CEO Jordan Zimmerman. “I grew up as one of those cravers, and being a part of building the future of a brand that was such a major part of building my past feels especially rewarding.”

With $20 million in reported billings, White Castle is a longtime quick-service player with a fresh, proven reputation that Zimmerman will enhance with initial work slated to appear by the end of the first quarter of 2009.