BBH wins £5m Hoegaarden task

Interbrew has handed roster agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) the global advertising business for its Belgian white beer Hoegaarden, estimated to be worth &£5m.

McCann-Erickson was the brand’s global incumbent.

BBH won Interbrew’s entire &£14.35m Interbrew UK advertising business last week, stripping Mother of both the Hoegaarden and Castlemaine XXXX UK accounts (MW last week). BBH already handles the Boddingtons and Murphy’s Irish Stout brands, worth &£5.35m in the UK.

The appointment of BBH to the global Hoegaarden business could signal a relaunch of the brand in the UK. Hoegaarden was launched in 1994 but no advertising supported the beer until McCann-Erickson was appointed in 2002 (MW March 28, 2002). Last year Hoegaarden launched its first television campaign (MW March 28, 2002).

BBH’s brief is to increase the brand’s global market share. In the UK, Interbrew spent less than &£500,000 on advertising the brand last year, when Mother created a pub and bar poster campaign.

In a separate move, Interbrew has appointed Leo Burnett, Chicago, to handle the global advertising for its specialty beer brand Leffe.

Interbrew senior vice-president of marketing Simon Thorpe says: “The agencies’ goal is to create sustainable, broad appeal for the brands over the next ten to 15 years, based on consumer analysis.”