Coke hands £7m brief to Universal McCann

Universal McCann has picked up the &£7m UK planning and buying account for the soft drinks brands sold by Cadbury Schweppes to Coca-Cola last year.

The UK TV and print advertising account, which covers Schweppes branded mixers as well as Oasis and Dr Pepper brands, moves from Zenith Media without a pitch to Universal, the roster media agency for Coca-Cola Great Britain.

The decision follows Cadbury Schweppes’ $1.85bn (&£1.16bn) sale of its beverage brands to Coke in over 120 countries excluding the US, France and South Africa. In the UK, the soft drinks sold to Coke include the Dr Pepper fruit-flavoured drink, the range of Schweppes-branded mixers and tonic water, Canada Dry and Oasis.

When the agreed deal was announced a year ago, Douglas Ivester, chairman and chief executive of The Coca-Cola Company, said: “Because we do not have any broadly-distributed brands in these segments, the transactions will make a wider variety of non-alcoholic beverages available to our customers.”

Universal McCann already handles the planning and buying for Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Cherry Coca-Cola, Fanta, Five Alive, Lilt and Sprite.

Advertising agency Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R handles the global Schweppes and Dr Pepper creative account. It denies the business is about to move to an existing Coke roster agency as a result of the deal.

Recent TV work from Y&R before its merger with Rainey Kelly includes commercials featuring a prisoner who, after being forced to drink Dr Pepper, discovers he loves it.