Euro RSCG snaps £60m Polaroid

Euro RSCG Worldwide has snapped up Polaroid’s &£60m global advertising business. The agency beat Arnold Worldwide and UK incumbent Bartle Bogle Hegarty to win the business. Global incumbent Leo Burnett did not repitch.

New York-based Euro RSCG MVBMS Partners has been appointed as lead agency on the account. It will develop all creative work for the brand as well as handling media planning and buying.

The brief will also be handled by Euro RSCG Partners in the UK – the agency’s first win since its merger with Partners BDDH – Euro RSCG Thomson Roehle in Germany and Euro RSCG in Japan. Worldwide media will be handled by Media Planning Group. Work on new campaigns is expected to start immediately.

Polaroid is best known for its instant photography products, but the company also makes a number of other imaging products covering digital, conventional film and professional products including lenses and filters.

Polaroid’s I-Zone instant camera, which creates thumbnail-size pictures, is the top-selling camera in the US, but the company is keen to increase its focus on digital products, moving the brand with the times.

Polaroid has suffered from the rapid development of the imaging market. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2001, after attempts to cut its global workforce. It was bought by private equity group One Equity in June 2002, and is now a private company.