Birds Eye invites AMV to pitch for 15m business

Birds Eye, the frozen food brand, has invited Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO to pitch against incumbent Bartle Bogle Hegarty for its £15m advertising business.

Birds Eye chief executive Martin Glenn, who is the former president of PepsiCo, is overseeing the review. He worked closely with AMV while at PepsiCo-owned Walkers Snacks.

The advertising pitch comes as the brand also reviews its media planning and buying business, which is currently held by MindShare. It is talking to a number of agencies including the incumbent.

The agency review follows the sale of the brand by Unilever to private equity company, Permira Funds last year. The company brought in Glenn as chief executive. He had been linked with a consortium of private equity firms that has been planning to make a bid but pulled out before the final offers were submitted.

Permira has retained the brand’s 35-strong team, including its top marketer Caroline Drummond, who joined the brand just months before it was sold.

BBH has handled the business for just over three years. It won the account from McCann-Erickson following a competitive pitch that also involved AMV (MW December 18, 2003).