Big Communications has denied recent industry press reports suggesting that Beverage Brands had moved its WKD above-the-line business out of the Leicester-based agency.
Details emerged that Nitro, a London-based creative shop, had taken the lion’s share of the account. However, Mark Firth, joint creative director at Big, has strongly refuted the reports, revealing that the agency will continue to handle above-the-line activity.
Big has worked on the WKD brand for several years, playing a significant role in the brand’s emergence as the UK’s second biggest-selling alcho-pop.
The confusion over the account stemmed from a pitch Beverage Brands recently held for an on-pack promotion project, expected to go live next summer. Nitro did, in fact, pick up the business despite competition in the form of both Big and national networked agency Golley Slater.
Meanwhile in other Big related news, the agency has been chosen by Thompson Family Teas to handle advertising and marketing for the Punjana tea brand. The brand is a household name in its native Northern Ireland and is looking to build its market share and be taken up by multiple grocers.
While details on the nature of the activity have not been revealed at present, TV advertising is expected to feature heavily in the marketing mix.
Punjana’s marketing director, Lindsay Skinner, commented on the appointment stating: “We felt that it was time to review our advertising. Big came highly recommended and so we set them a challenge to impress us – and they did.
“What we have seen from Big makes us confident that we can take Punjana forward and we feel that we have found an agency that we will be happy working with over the long-term.” The initial work on the through-the-line campaign will launch in early 2006.