Smirnoff consumer PR up for grabs

Ian Hall, PR Week UK, Friday, 24 October 2003, 12:00am,

Drinks giant Diageo GB has put the UK consumer PR account for Smirnoff, the world’s leading premium vodka brand, up for pitch.

Senior brand PR manager Clare Fleerackers said pitches were planned for both the flagship Smirnoff Red brand, and the ready-to-drink brand Smirnoff Ice.

She has already held discussions with undisclosed agencies for the core Smirnoff Red contract, which will involve promoting the brand’s global relaunch next year.

Smirnoff’s new, sleeker bottle, unveiled last month, will be available in Britain from next March as part of a £250m investment being made in the brand globally.

Fleerackers said she had also held talks with agencies that are not on Diageo’s seven-agency ‘preferred [PR] supplier list’, a roster drawn up in February (PRWeek, 28 February).

She said Countrywide Porter Novelli, which has promoted Smirnoff for more than three years, would not be taking part in the pitch.

Fees for the account are understood to be in the region of £200,000.

Fleerackers said discussions were also under way with roster agencies for a separate brief to promote Smirnoff Ice, for which CPN is also the incumbent agency.