Wool Secretariat plans pounds 22m rejig

The International Wool Secretariat has drawn up a long list of

potential advertising agencies as part of a review of its pounds 22

million global advertising account, currently held by Abbott Mead

Vickers BBDO and the rest of the BBDO network.

The client, which promotes wool use, is thought to be visiting six to

eight agencies, selected after a trip to the Advertising Agency

Register, as part of an ’in depth’ statutory review.

All the agencies under consideration are part of a global network or

have strong international alignments. M&C Saatchi, DMB&B, Young &

Rubicam, TBWA Simons Palmer, J. Walter Thompson and BMP DDB are

understood to be included on the long list.

Last month, Woolmark appointed Nicola Peers as its new group manager for

international marketing. In her previous job as marketing director at

Sopexa, she was responsible for the appointment of Y&R to the account,

but she left the French food and wine body when the marketing budget was

cut. Woolmark’s pounds 22 million advertising spend includes design,

clothes labelling, point-of-sale and promotional material.

Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO has held the account for more than three years.

Woolmark’s advertising has recently been overhauled, changing in style

from a glamorous global television campaign to a more traditional press

push promoting a broader range of wool brands (Campaign, 15 August).

The endline has changed from ’you can trust the wool that wears the

Woolmark’ to ’take comfort in wool’.

Woolmark made its television debut more than two years ago, starting a

series of international swashbuckling scenarios shot in the US, Bermuda,

France and Spain.

The campaign was designed to highlight the textile’s durability and

associate it with youthfulness and informality. However, recently the

IWS has been trying to shift its image upmarket.

This article was first published on Campaign