Real Adventure wins £2m Mates account

Mates Condoms has appointed creative agency Real Adventure to its &£2m advertising account, after a four-way pitch. The agency pitched against Soul, Claydon Heeley Jones Mason and incumbent Minerva.

The pitch was led by the company’s new UK marketing chief, Stephanie Surrey, who joined from Boots last November.

The appointment of Real Adventure coincides with the launch of sub-brand called Pleasure, which will be specifically aimed at women. Pleasure will go into shops this week, placed next to cosmetics and haircare products.

Last year, the condom company fell foul of several city planning departments and poster contractors for an illegal flyposting campaign called ishaggedhere.com (MW May 8, 2003). At the time, billboard company Maiden Outdoor demanded that Mates pay the full media cost of a 96-sheet site, after one of Maiden’s sites was half-covered by the Mates posters. The campaign was created by Diabolical Liberties.

Surrey says Mates has no plans to create a similar campaign.

Mates, launched by Sir Richard Branson in the Eighties, is owned by Ansell Healthcare.