WCRS wins £4m S.Comfort brief

Brown-Forman has appointed WCRS to handle the &£4m advertising account for Southern Comfort.

The agency picked up the business following a pitch against Partners BDDH. The media buying account, held by MediaVest, was not up for review.

Brown-Forman, which also owns Jack Daniels, called a review last month when it pulled the business out of Mother, just five months after appointing the agency.

The company’s UK marketing manager Sophia Angelis says it decided to review the business after Simmons Durham, the US agency which handles advertising for Jack Daniels, was bought by Havas’ Arnold Worldwide.

“We are trying to explore global efficiencies and it made sense to work with a partner of Arnold Worldwide,” says Angelis.

Like Mother, WCRS will work on UK campaigns which may be adapted to other European markets such as Greece or Germany.

Mother was appointed in February after a three-way pitch against Leo Burnett and Burkitt DDB. Incumbent D’Arcy, which had handled the business since 1997, was not shortlisted.

Last year the company ran a &£3m TV and cinema campaign by D’Arcy, aimed at giving Southern Comfort a more up-to-date image and moving away from the emphasis on its heritage. The spirit brand’s &£1m sponsorship of Channel 4’s first Big Brother series last summer was also aimed at raising its profile among young consumers.