Wickes appoints DMB&B for 4.5m brand-building task

DIY chain Wickes has appointed DMB&B to its 4.5m account, after reviewing the business out of Clark & Taylor.

C&T repitched for the account, along with Leo Burnett and the chain’s former agency Lowe Howard-Spink. It is thought that the appointment of DMB&B may signal a return to a brand-building campaign. Over the past two years, Wickes has concentrated mainly on tactical advertising in the national press and on below-the-line work.

The chain sacked LH-S from the account in June 1996 (MW June 6), and appointed C&T, which handled its regional press work, without a pitch to the entire account. The move followed a brand-building campaign by LH-S the previous year which parodied the storyline of Channel 4 soap Brookside.

Wickes is being relaunched under chief executive Bill Grimsey after an accounting scandal last year, which was thought to have cost the company about 50m. Many of the senior managers left at the time and Grimsey has been working to restore the company’s reputation in the City.

It is thought Grimsey will attempt to attract “light” DIY customers. The chain’s main appeal is to builders and serious DIY hobbyists.