HHCL must revive brand or lose £5m Tango brief

HHCL & Partners (HHCL) looks set to lose its grip on Britvic Soft Drinks’ £5m Tango business, which it has held for nearly ten years.

HHCL & Partners (HHCL) looks set to lose its grip on Britvic Soft Drinks’ £5m Tango business, which it has held for nearly ten years.

The agency has been given until December 7 to come up with a relaunch advertising campaign for the drinks brand or face a review of the business.

Britvic has confirmed that category director Andrew Marsden has already lined up a number of agencies which will pitch for the Tango business if HHCL fails to crack the brief.

HHCL has worked on Tango for ten years but, according to AC Nielsen, brand sales dropped by 17 per cent in the year to April compared with the same period the previous year. Coca-Cola’s Fanta has overtaken Tango as the best-selling orange carbonated drink in the UK.

The agency’s last TV campaign focused on a creature living inside the stomach that offers bizarre advice when fed Tango.

HHCL built Tango into a strong brand with a series of innovative ads, which courted controversy. Two of its ads were withdrawn following complaints to the Independent Television Commission.

HHCL has lost a string of high profile accounts this year, including the AA and Egg, although it has picked up work from Unilever and Mars. It put its staff on redundancy alert in September and shed 12 staff in October.

Britvic’s Robinson’s brand is not up for review.