Cotton task for Chelsea Partnership

The Chelsea Partnership has won the 1.5m pan-European advertising account for Cotton Council International, the US cotton industry’s export marketing division.

The agency’s chief executive, Maryann Barone, says there is an increasing preference among consumers to buy cotton.

However, the main thrust of the campaign is not to switch buyers from wool products but to highlight the superiority of US cotton over that from other markets including South America and Pakistan.

According to studies undertaken by the Council, cotton is becoming a more popular fabric because it is seen as natural, pure and comfortable as opposed to synthetics and blends.

The US is the world’s largest supplier of cotton. Cotton Council regional director Marsha Powell says the organisation mistakenly backed out of the consumer market last year, concentrating on trade advertising and below-the-line work which proved less effective than the Council hoped. So this year it has decided to raise its consumer profile with an advertising campaign.