Liberty talks to six about brand image

Upmarket retailer Liberty is to talk to six advertising agencies about a major relaunch of its brand.

Incumbent agency Bean Andrews Norways Cramphorn will not be considered for the new campaign, although it will continue its contract until June 1999.

Liberty marketing manager Stephen Jessey will visit six agencies at the beginning of January before selecting a shortlist, probably of three, for consideration by managing director Michelle Jobling.

Jessey says: “We are looking for an agency which won’t just deliver retail work, which Bean Andrews did well, but also merchandise the Liberty brand name.”

Bean Andrews has most recently been responsible for the “Art of the Idiosyncratic” poster and press campaign, which used Liberty goods in well-known paintings. But Jessey says any new campaign will focus more directly on building the brand worldwide.

The much-needed relaunch follows a period of turbulence at the company, which lost its chairman Denis Cassidy and four other directors, including marketing director Julia Bowe, after a boardroom row.