WCRS wins £3m Mr Kipling work

Manor Bakeries has appointed WCRS to handle the &£3m advertising account for its cake brand Mr Kipling. The agency won the business after a final pitch against DDB London.

The cake manufacturer, which called a review in March, originally shortlisted incumbent Saatchi & Saatchi and Mother, but both agencies dropped out of the running. Delaney Lund Knox Warren was added (MW March 25) before the shortlist was cut down to the final two at the end of April.

The review, which was handled by Agency Insights, does not affect DDB’s relationship with British Bakeries, Manor’s sister company at RHM, and Saatchi & Saatchi will continue to handle the Cadbury’s Cakes business, which is also part of Manor.

Saatchi & Saatchi won the Mr Kipling business in 2000 and was responsible for the brand’s Christmas ad, which showed a woman giving birth at a Nativity play. The ad was pulled by Manor after the Independent Television Commission received a significant number of complaints.

The cake manufacturer called the review after a number of changes in its marketing department. It appointed Simon Foster as head of marketing for Mr Kipling and Lyons in February (MW February 12). He joined from British Bakeries’ brand Hovis, where he was also head of marketing. At the same time, Sharon Whitehead, the former marketing manager at Mr Kipling, was promoted to head of marketing for Cadbury’s Cakes.