Beechwood scoops £4m Freeport task

Beechwood has won a &£4m creative brief for the relaunch of two Freeport outlet shopping centres.

The agency will create through-the-line campaigns for both Freeport outlets in Braintree, Essex, and Fleetwood, Lancashire to herald the centres’ &£16m makeovers. About &£1m will be spent launching each outlet centre, with a further &£1m devoted to advertising each through the year. Beechwood was awarded the business without a pitch by Realm, which manages the Freeport centres of behalf of property company Hermes. It already works on five Realm outlets.

The first work will break early next year and appear across television, outdoor, regional press and direct mail. Beechwood will also work on the centres’ websites, internet advertising and point-of-purchase material.

RPM3 previously handled advertising for the Freeport sites, although the centres have not been supported with advertising for some time. Media buying and planning will continue to be handled by Booth Lockett Makin for Braintree and TCS Media North for Fleetwood.

Realm is the UK’s largest factory outlet shopping centre operator. It took over the operation of four Freeport outlets following Hermes’ acquisition of the sites in March last year for &£245m. Outlet stores include fashion and sports chains Mexx, Next Clearance, Pilot and Reebok, music stores such as Virgin XS and specialist shops including confectioner Thorntons.