It is hard to imagine an agency anywhere that would not be
delighted to bag one of the three significant wins of last week.
First, Leagas Delaney has secured the multi-million pound brief to
communicate and demystify the BBC’s move into digital broadcasting. The
appointment - part of a master plan to establish a coherent digital
strategy for the corporation - will encompass the launch of the BBC
digital TV and radio services, as well as the new 24-hour domestic TV
news channel, News 24, and the BBC Online Internet services.
Leagas Delaney has earned its right to the deal in a text-book manner:
an outstanding track record culminating recently in the ’Perfect Day’
corporate spot, a long association with the client and a competitive
pitch - in this case against the BBC roster agencies, Ammirati Puris
Lintas and St Luke’s.
Next up, the hotly contested pounds 20 million campaign to prepare the
country for yet another phone code change has been awarded to J. Walter
Thompson.
Its budget is guaranteed to get any financial director salivating, but
the ’client’ in this case comprises 70 companies, and Oftel to boot - ’a
fascinating communications challenge’, as Stephen Carter put it in
Campaign last week.
Finally, there is Partners BDDH and its Co-operative Wholesale Society
win, a move that offers a fantastic example of the power of the strong
advertising proposition - in this case, the ’ethical’ bank. In 1990, the
Co-op Bank was a little-known and even less well understood minority
player in both the current account and credit card markets. Thanks to
BDDH’s identification of a positioning based on a study of the bank’s
working practices and history, it has emerged as a desirable alternative
and has shrugged off its ’cloth cap’ image. Here’s to the same for the
still-dowdy Co-operative Wholesale Society.
