Ammirati and Puris/Lintas has lost the Economist’s pounds 4.5 million
pan-European advertising account to Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, which
handles the pounds 1.5 million UK business.
The Economist asked AMV to present strategic recommendations for the UK
and Europe two weeks ago as part of its annual review, but it did not
present creative ideas.
Andrew McGregor, the Economist’s marketing director, said the decision
to appoint AMV did not reflect ‘any disappointment with Lintas’s high-
profile campaign for the Economist in Europe’.
‘The Economist is read by senior businessmen who travel extensively, and
it made sense for us to consolidate our efforts for the brand into one
strong agency,’ he said.
Andrew Cracknell, the deputy chairman of A&P/L, said he was unruffled by
the account loss: ‘They are a lovely bunch of people at the Economist
and it’s a great product. But who can blame them? Our work pretty much
followed the lines of AMV’s campaign and it made sense for them to
handle it.’
AMV’s appointment comes as the Economist plans to boost its efforts in
Europe, concentrating particularly on France and Germany. It is
currently available in every market across Europe.
Jeremy Miles, the AMV board account director, commented: ‘We have worked
with the Economist for 11 years and have a good understanding of the
brand.’ He refused to discuss whether the magazine planned to roll out
AMV’s ‘white out of red’ campaign across Europe but admitted it was a
possibility.
The Economist hired A&P/L (formerly Still Price Lintas) to boost
readership among English speakers across Europe in March 1994. The
agency won the account after a four-way pitch that included the
incumbent, the Park Company.
During the Economist’s two-year spell with A&P/L, the agency created an
image-led campaign rather than the ingenious word-based advertising
favoured by AMV. Recent pan-European posters included an image of two
babies with the words ‘no hidden agenda’ and a baby pricking its finger
on a cactus with the line ‘truth hurts’.
