McCann-Erickson holds on to £15m Somerfield

McCann-Erickson has held on to the &£15m Somerfield account after the latest in a long line of pitches for the supermarket.

McCann won the three-way pitch against one of the supermarket’s former agencies, RPM3, and Delaney Cawley.

The appointment comes after an unsettled period for the supermarket, reflected in the frequent changes to its advertising account.

McCann has temporarily handled the Somerfield account since the supermarket acrimoniously split with Leo Burnett in August last year (MW August 12 1999).

Burnett was appointed to the account in February last year after a pitch against J Walter Thompson and McCann, the incumbent on the Kwik Save business. RPM3, which had held the Somerfield account for nine years, was not included in that pitch.

Last year, almost all of the supermarket’s senior marketers left, including group marketing director Phil Smith, brand communications director Alan Shepherd, group development director Jonathan Smith and associate director of brand identity Paul Hutton.

Last month, Somerfield backtracked on a decision to rebrand all its newly-acquired Kwik Save stores under the Somerfield name, following disastrous financial results. Instead, it revealed plans to sell off 350 of the Kwik Save outlets, with the remainder retaining the Kwik Save brand.

It has set about centralising its marketing operation again and is seeking a marketing director.

Martin Sutherland, head of external communications, conducted the latest agency review. He says: “McCann proved it could reflect our business strategy in a creative and thoughtful way.”