Butler Lutos Sutton Wilkinson has won the pounds 5 million pan-European
advertising account for the Europe Tax-free Shopping scheme.
The agency triumphed after a four-way pitch against agencies including
Scan and Partners, a Swedish advertising agency, and Demner Merlicek
Berjjman, an Austrian agency. Scan and Partners, the incumbent, had held
the account for 15 years.
ETS is the largest VAT-refunding company in Europe, and its service is
offered by more than 100,000 retailers. When non-European Union
residents buy goods with a VAT surcharge in an EU country, ETS will
refund the VAT to the consumer as they pass through customs.
The through-the-line campaign will run principally on cross-border
satellite TV. Although the final media schedule has not yet been
decided, it is expected to include NBC Super Channel and CNN in the EU’s
15 countries.
Martin Butler, Butler Lutos Sutton Wilkinson’s chief executive, said:
‘Fifty-two per cent of the people who could claim refunds don’t. It’s
our job now to change that. We will be targeting travellers with high
disposable incomes.’
Anders Henrikson, international marketing director of ETS, said: ‘We
were looking for an agency that could think in an international way,
that knew advertising in Germany differed from that in the UK. That was
more important than a large agency with international links.’
Media will be handled by Butler Lutos, through the AMIN Network - a
system set up to assist independent advertising agencies around the
world.
