BMP DDB wins Brown-Forman wine brief

Brown-Forman has appointed BMP DDB as the first UK agency for its Fetzer Californian wine brand.

The agency won the pan-European business, understood to be worth up to &£1m, following a pitch against two undisclosed agencies. Its sister agency OMD UK will handle media planning and buying for the brand.

It is understood that an ad campaign, breaking before Christmas, will concentrate on the history of the company, which was founded by the Fetzer family in 1968 and has become renowned for its organic vineyard farming practices.

Fetzer wine has been sold in the UK since the mid-Nineties but this is the first time the brand has been backed by advertising.

“We felt the brand had reached a critical stage in terms of sales volume. In the past few years we have succeeded in getting distribution for Fetzer in major retail outlets and in the on-trade, and we felt it was time for some brand-building,” says Simon Legge, marketing director for Brown-Forman’s European wine division.

Brown-Forman, which also produces Jack Daniels whiskey and Southern Comfort liqueur, recently reported a seven per cent rise in earnings from its spirits and wine division for the nine months to January 2001.