Saatchi wins 12.5m Schweppes

Saatchi & Saatchi has won the $20m (12.5m) pan-European advertising account for Schweppes Europe, the soft drink arm of Cadbury Schweppes previously handled by the DDB Network.

Saatchi & Saatchi has won the $20m (12.5m) pan-European advertising account for Schweppes Europe, the soft drink arm of Cadbury Schweppes previously handled by the DDB Network.

The win covers all brands under the Schweppes name, including the company’s core mixer drinks, tonic water and bitter lemon. Other drinks such as lemonade, Schizan the carbonated fruit drink, and Sienna, a coffee-flavoured carbonate, are also part of the brief.

Schweppes is thought to have invited the incumbent DDB Network, Lowe Howard-Spink, Grey Advertising, Paris-based agency Louis V and Foote Cone & Belding, to pitch.

The company admits it has consistently under-invested in the UK, where the account has been handled by BMP DDB for the past four years. The last UK TV advertising was a 1.5m campaign for Schizan in 1995.

The win makes up for Saatchi’s loss of Cadbury-Schweppes’ 8m Dr Pepper Euro account, recently picked up by Young & Rubicam.