H Samuel ad brief moves To BMP DDB

BMP DDB has been appointed to handle a &£1m advertising brief for high-street jewellery chain H Samuel, which could result in the return of the brand to TV after a lapse of more than five years.

BMP pitched against a number of other advertising agencies, thought to include Saatchi & Saatchi, Walsh Trott Chick Smith, Bates UK and M&C Saatchi, for the business.

Maher Bird, which previously held the account, was briefed last year to develop a TV advertising campaign, but it was never broadcast, owing to a disagreement over strategy with H Samuel. The last time H Samuel ran a TV advertising campaign was in 1997.

BMP has been briefed to develop strategy and to assess above-the-line opportunities for the retailer in time for the store’s busy pre-Christmas shopping season.

Nick Hamley, marketing director for H Samuel and sister retailer Ernest Jones, says: “We want to raise the profile of H Samuel and create a destination store.”

H Samuel and Ernest Jones, both part of the Signet Group, mainly use catalogues distributed via stores, inserts in national newspapers and direct mail to drive sales.

BMP’s appointment does not, at this stage, extend to Ernest Jones. The agency RPM3 works on Signet’s Leo branded diamond, which has recently been introduced in Ernest Jones and Leslie Davies stores. Leslie Davies is also part of Signet.

Signet Group last week reported a three per cent increase in like-forlike sales in the UK for the eight weeks to December 24 2002, attributing part of the rise to the new Leo diamond.