Bausch and Lomb has split with Bartle Bogle Hegarty just five months
after appointing the agency to run the global advertising for its
flagship sunglasses brand, Ray-Ban.
Bozell Worldwide, which already handles Curel, Bausch and Lomb’s
skincare brand in the US, is tipped as the favourite to pick up both
creative and media on the business, which could be worth up to pounds 25
million.
Scott Woodward, the director of global image and communications for the
US-based eyecare group, confirmed the split with BBH but would not
comment on a replacement agency.
He said Bausch and Lomb split with BBH a week ago, following ‘creative
differences’.
Woodward said the company was currently evaluating its options, but he
added this wouldn’t include a formal review, as the group was talking to
agencies known to it.
BBH was appointed in June as Ray-Ban’s first international image
custodian, after senior management decided the brand needed stronger
direction on a global basis.
Personnel changes since then are understood to have upset the smooth
relations between agency and client. According to sources, this left the
door open for Bozell to approach Bausch and Lomb about the business.
Details have not yet been finalised on the account, but it is understood
that creative direction will now be driven from Bozell in New York and
fine-tuned by Delaney Fletcher Bozell for the UK. Media buying and
planning is likely to shift in the UK from Motive to 20/20 Media, a
joint venture between Bozell and CIA Medianetwork International.
Nigel Bogle, the joint chief executive of BBH, declined to comment, as
did Richard Hammond, the vice-president of international operations for
Bozell, who is based in London.
BBH picked up the business following a pitch between regional Ray-Ban
agencies, including Leo Burnett and the US-based Arnell Group (Campaign,
7 June). Until then, advertising had been handled differently in each
international region.
At the time, a spokesman said BBH’s brief was to create a campaign for
1997 focusing on ‘young and youthful-minded consumers’ using ‘consistent
images from around the world’.
