BBH wins £2.5m advertising brief for Unilever’s Go Organic ranges

Go Organic, the 90 per cent Unilever Bestfoods-owned Scottish soups and pasta sauces company, has appointed Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) to its &£2.5m ad account.

BBH is understood to have picked up the business after pitching against another undisclosed Unilever roster agency. BBH already handles the advertising for Unilever’s Bertolli and Olivio brands in the UK.

Unilever acquired its 90 per cent share of Go Organic from its founders Charlotte Mitchell, former chair of the Soil Association, and Sheila Ross, a nutritionist, last year. They have held on to ten per cent of the company.

The appointment of BBH is part of a brand relaunch, which aims to give it more mass-market appeal. Unilever says the first piece of work from BBH will be a press campaign.

Since last year’s takeover by the food giant, Go Organic’s distribution has been increased by 20 per cent and it is now listed in Sainsbury’s. The five soups and five pasta sauces in the Go Organic range have also benefited from new recipes. The logo and jars have also been redesigned to give them greater visibility on the shelf.

The organic food sector is booming in the UK. According to the Soil Association, organic food retail sales in the year to April 2001 reached &£802m – a 33 per cent increase on the previous year.