Leo Burnett has beaten TBWA Worldwide to win the pounds 60 million
task of turning Heinz Tomato Ketchup into a global advertising icon.
The win includes all the media buying for Heinz retail in the US and it
is expected that media buying in some other territories will follow -
putting CIA Medianetwork, which handles media in the UK, on the
alert.
Nick Brien, the chief executive of Burnetts in London, said: ’Heinz is
an audacious company with audacious goals. We have produced strong
creative and strategic thinking and we offer a sound management
infrastructure.’
The Heinz account will be run by the same global team who pitched for
the business and Brien will be involved with the account. Creative work
for the pitch was led by Gerard Stamp, executive creative director in
London, and Lisa Bennett, managing creative director in Chicago.
Heinz called the pitch six weeks ago as part of a global review of eight
core categories, which the company wants to build into a single global
brand. Euro RSCG, DDB Needham and Bates Dorland, which handles Heinz in
the UK, were included in the initial round of talks.
Eric Salamon, the general manager of corporate marketing for Heinz’s
European grocery division, said: ’There is a clear rationale for
consolidating our advertising for ketchup into one agency. It is one of
the key levers to creating a unified global brand, leveraging our
strengths in regional markets and increasing our growth in new and
existing markets.’
He added: ’In Burnetts I believe we have found a partner that can
clearly demonstrate an ability to create outstanding global
campaigns.’
Burnetts’ win comes the week after it pulled in Procter & Gamble’s
pounds 165 million UK media buying account.
