BST scoops ú3m Red Stripe task

Bainsfair Sharkey Trott has won the £3m Red Stripe lager account, which will be relaunched by its owner HP Bulmer in May.

Bulmers has dropped the brand’s incumbent agency Mellors Reay & Partners, formerly Reay Keating Hamer, which handled Red Stripe’s advertising for eight years. Red Stripe has done little advertising for the past 18 months.

It is understood the new campaign will move the brand away from its gritty, urban image and focus on its Jamaican heritage. The pack design will also be changed for the relaunch.

One observer close to the deal says: “Red Stripe is a very Eighties brand, full of pose and style. But the market for premium packaged lagers has moved towards `real’ brands with heritage and provenance.”

Bulmers is thought to be building distribution for the brand. It is considering a multimedia advertising campaign including posters, magazines, television and cinema, with a particular emphasis on radio.

It is the second time BST has beaten Mellors Reay in a pitch for a Bulmers brand. Last year, BST won the Scrumpy Jack cider business from RKH.