New Covent Garden Soup drops BBH

The New Covent Garden Soup Company is dropping Bartle Bogle Hegarty and taking its advertising in-house as part of a move to expand its direct marketing activity.

Marketing manager Kate Raison says the company plans to increase its marketing spend from 500,000 to 1.2m for the next year – switching most of its budget below the line.

However, the company is still finalising plans for an above-the-line campaign which it is considering running on radio and in the press.

Raison says the increase in marketing spend has been prompted by a 30 per cent rise in value sales of the soups.

BBH, appointed three years ago, was the company’s first agency. Last November, BBH won an award at the Account Planners Group Awards for its work on the business.

Raison says no decision has been made over whether BBH’s media arm, Motive, will continue to handle media for the account.