Fosters hands £7m ad account to Adam & Eve

Heineken UK has appointed Adam & Eve to handle the £7m UK advertising account for Fosters.

Adam & Eve replaces incumbent agency M&C Saatchi who handled the account for 14 years.

Other agencies involved in the pitch include Fallon, who lost out in the final round, and VCCP. The pitch was handled by the AAR.

Fosters was launched in the UK in 1996 and worked with M&C Saatchi since 1997. Its ad campaigns have focused on the brand’s Australian heritage and include straplines such as “drink Australian, think Australian” and “get some Australian in you.”

Foster’s was acquired by Heineken in 2008, following a joint takeover deal of some Scottish and Newcastle brands in January 2008 with Carlsberg.

Last month, it extended this by launching an Australia Day game card promotion in pubs and clubs .

Heineken has committed to continued investment in marketing despite spending less in the first half of the financial year.

Heineken UK is looking at sponsorship in a bid to differentiate its Foster’s brand in the crowded UK beer market. According to Heineken’s last financial statement, its last ad campaign helped boost Foster’s share of the UK beer market by 2.6% last year.

The agency change does not affect M&C Saatchi’s work on Kronenbourg, which is also overseen by Scottish & Newcastle, Foster’s previous owner.