Schweppes, the soft drinks giant, has put the PR for its entire
portfolio of Schweppes branded goods up for tender.
The new contract, thought to be worth up to pounds 200,000 in fees,
covers Schweppes tonic, bitter lemon, Schizan lemonade, mixers and
Malvern water.
UK marketing director for Schweppes, Robin Chatterton has produced an
initial pitch list and presentations are expected to take place before
the end of the month.
Commenting on the review Chatterton said: ‘We haven’t had anyone working
on these brands for some time and are keen to raise the Schweppes
profile during 1997.’
Chatterton said he was ‘not prepared to comment’ on whether PR firms
handling the company’s non-Schweppes branded drinks will pitch for the
account or if their contracts will be affected by the move.
Lowe Bell’s consumer subsidiary Green Moon manages PR for Sunkist,
Sunkist Diet and Oasis; and Lyons Waddell works on Dr Pepper.
Parent company Cadbury-Schweppes has a central PR division based at its
Berkeley Square headquarters. However PR for all the products on the
brief are handled in-house by individual brand managers.
The investment in PR follows reports earlier this month in the marketing
press that Schweppes has hired Saatchi and Saatchi to run a pan-European
advertising drive for all brands under the Schweppes name. The marketing
shake-up follows Cadbury-Schweppes’ announcement in June that it is to
sell its 51 per cent stake in Coca-Cola and Schweppes Beverages.
Chatterton was made marketing director for the UK and Ireland two months
ago. He wields a marketing budget of pounds 100 million.
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