Knorr prepares for £20m creative review

Noel Bussey, Campaign, Friday, 28 October 2005, 12:00am,

JWT is facing a third European Unilever review after its Persil and Lipton Ice Tea losses, as Knorr prepares to put its £20 million pan-European account up for pitch.

The Knorr creative pitch is expected to kick off in January and Unilever has already sounded out roster agencies. The Knorr range is already under strategic review.

JWT was handed the pan-European account in October 2004 without a pitch and was charged with creating a strategic campaign to run across Europe, which should have been put into place by the end of this year.

DDB handles the account in the UK. It also handles the Knorr business in the US, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia. JWT runs the business in South America.

Knorr is sold in more than 100 countries and has annual sales exceeding £2 billion.

Recent UK advertising for the brand has included TV work for its Beef Tonight cook-in sauce, backed by a £6 million annual spend. The ads star Norman the Panda in his quest to find more interesting food than bamboo.

In September, JWT's global creative director on Unilever, James Sinclair, left the agency after just six months.

This article was first published on Campaign