McCann nets 8m sportswear task

McCann-Erickson has scooped Russell Athletic’s estimated 8m pan-European brief to develop its first TV branding campaign. It won the business after a three-way pitch which also included Lowe Belgium.

The company, owned by the US-based Russell Corporation, has appointed Universal McCann in Brussels to coordinate both the creative and media side of the account.

The campaign, designed to boost recognition of the US brand, which claims to be the creator of the T-shirt, is the first major brand campaign the sportswear company has run in Europe and will break next year.

But no decision has yet been taken on the geographic spread of the account, its content or the final budget, although the UK – Russell’s first European centre – Germany, France, Spain and Italy will all be included.

The company claims European sales have been growing by 30 per cent per year over the past three years – the reason the campaign is being launched now.

“Russell is huge in the US and obviously has ambitions across the world, not just in Europe,” says Universal McCann managing director Albert Benatar. “It needs recognition across Europe.”