McCann-Erickson London and its Universal McCann media affiliate
have prised Kwik Save’s pounds 8 million account out of their Manchester
sister shop, beating two other networks to the business in a competitive
pitch.
The win is a personal victory for the chief executive of McCanns’ London
office, Ben Langdon, who took direct charge of the pitch, which was
called because new management at Kwik Save favoured a change of agency
and a new advertising direction.
McCanns’ new executive creative director, Mike Court, also worked on the
pitch.
The business had been handled by McCanns and Universal in Manchester for
the past 30 years.
The North Wales-based Kwik Save operation runs 800 stores around the UK,
but its basic offering of branded goods at low prices is under pressure
from the major supermarket chains, such as Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and
Safeway, and the growth of own-label ranges.
The chain took on the former Kraft marketing chief, Phil Smith, as
marketing director last year, and his former colleague, Alan Shepherd,
as communications director in June this year.
The pair were given a free hand to reorganise Kwik Save’s positioning
and brand ranges, and were instrumental in the launch of the chain’s
own-label goods earlier this year.
McCanns London, which beat J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett for the
business, had lacked a significant retail account since losing the
Woolworth’s business in the late 80s.
Langdon admitted: ’The Kwik Save win fills a significant gap in our
portfolio.’ It continues a series of business wins - through local
effort and international alignment - for McCanns, including Esso,
Reckitt & Coleman and Motorola.
