24 June, 1994
Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO is set to be at the heart of a global
initiative to regenerate the Woolmark symbol.
The assignment could mean a return to the high-profile advertising for
the International Wool Secretariat that won awards for Davidson Pearce
two decades ago.
The IWS is planning to put pounds 30 million behind a worldwide campaign
which will be be created and co-ordinated out of Abbott Mead in London.
An estimated pounds 4 million of that amount is expected to be spent in
the UK.
The IWS has not run a major UK or global campaign since a series of ads
from Davidson Pearce in the 80s which featured a trained ram called
Arnold.
Michael Baulk, the chief executive of Abbott Mead, said: ’IWS
advertising has a wonderfully creative pedigree which we would like to
get back to.’
Although the IWS has been within the BBDO network for several years,
global advertising development has been handled by New York’s Merkley
Newman Harty, an Omnicom subsidiary.
The switch follows the appointment of Tim Shepherd-Smith, from British
Airways, as the international and marketing development director for the
IWS, and David Lewis, former client services director of Dewe Rogerson,
as advertising and promotions manager.
Shepherd-Smith said: ’We have well-established relationships with the
BBDO network and are confident Abbott Mead has the experience to create
and adapt a worldwide campaign to suit local market conditions.’
The agency’s work will run in the IWS’s established markets in the US
and Europe as well as in key developing markets, such as China and
India.
