Roose & Partners wins 5m Caffrey’s account

Roose & Partners has won the 5m advertising account for Bass Brewer’s Caffrey’s Irish Ale, marking a shift in image for the brand.

Roose & Partners has won the 5m advertising account for Bass Brewer’s Caffrey’s Irish Ale, marking a shift in image for the brand.

The account was awarded to the agency after consumer research favoured its creative work over that of the other short-listed contender, Edinburgh-based The Leith Agency. Leo Burnett, DMB&B and Ogilvy & Mather were dropped after the first round of pitches.

Bass’s decision to pull the Caffrey’s account from former agency, WCRS, startled the advertising sector earlier this year. Caffrey’s has been a success story for Bass since its launch in 1994, rising to become a market leader. However, its share in the on-trade premium draught ale sector has begun to level out at 12 per cent for April and May this year.

Mark Hunter, Bass’s marketing director, says: “Consumers liked the ideas put forward by both agencies, but it soon became clear that the Roose & Partners approach gave Caffrey’s a new dimension. It [Roose & Partners] is working on totally new ideas. We are bringing a different facet of the brand to life.”

Ted Roose, Roose & Partners chairman, says the agency will build on some of Caffrey’s “aspirational qualities”. The agency recently bolstered its management with the appointment of Angus Fear, formerly director in charge of Nestlé Rowntree at J Walter Thompson, as managing partner.

Bass has remained tight-lipped about the reasons for the change of agency. Hunter would only say that it was not a “sales specific issue”.

He adds: “We felt it was time for some fresh thinking. We need to say something different about the brand.”