GOLDEN, CO: Eight months after signing up Coors Brewing's newly purchased UK subsidiary as a client, Golin/Harris International has inked an agency-of-record contract with the home office in Colorado.
"Our relationship with Coors has grown very quickly," said Golin CEO Rich Jernstedt.
In February, Coors bought parts of Bass Brewers' UK interests from Belgium-based Interbrew, including the best-selling British lager Carling, as well as the Grolsch, Worthington, and Caffrey's brands. The transaction made the subsidiary, Coors Brewers, the UK's second-largest beer company, while the parent ranks third in the US.
Golin's work for Coors will focus on internal communication and strategic counseling. "Part of what they will be helping to do is synergize some of the communications across the pond," said Coors spokeswoman Hilary Martin.
Golin will assign people to the account from offices throughout the country, Jernstedt said. Gary Rudnick, Golin's GM in Dallas, will lead the Coors work from Texas, while Ellen Ryan Mardiks, worldwide director of marketing and brand strategy in Chicago, will manage global issues. The agency has no immediate plans for renting office space in Colorado, but SVP Bernie Charland lives there and will work closely with the company on employee initiatives.
Martin said that Coors considered "a handful" of undisclosed agencies for the account, but would not discuss its value.
The company's in-house communications team is short-staffed with four employees, and Golin will provide on-site support, said Martin, who described the agency relationship as fluid and open-ended.
Although Coors hasn't previously employed an agency of record, it has recently worked on marketing communications projects with Boston's Triple Dot Communications, and with Edelman on Hispanic outreach. The Golin assignment should not affect those relationships, Martin said.
