More than 100 agencies replied to its initial request for proposals despite its unusual order for creative work up front.
CHI & Partners and DraftFCB in San Francisco were among the finalists.
Ignited, the Californian agency that failed to get beyond the presentation round, complained on its blog that the pitch "exemplified all that is broken in the account review process". It claimed Zappos had viewed only five pages of its 25-page submission.