Dairy Crest hands spreads to Iris

Iris, the independent integrated agency, has been appointed to handle the £1m below-the-line spreads business for Dairy Crest following a four-month review.

Iris will work on brands including Utterly Butterly, Clover and St Ivel Gold after winning a place on the roster alongside incumbent Haygarth, which has been retained to handle the other half of the account – also believed to be worth £1m.

Dairy Crest invited a number of agencies to pitch for the business in November last year (MW November 2, 2006). The review was handled by Creative Brief, but Grey London’s hold on the advertising business was not affected by the pitch.

Dairy Crest group brand manager Laura Downey says: "This year will be an exciting period of development and it was vital we got the right agency partner on board."

Dairy Crest’s previous below-the-line activity has included sponsorship of wing-walking display team the "Utterly Butterlys" – named after its spread brand.

In September last year, the company sold off its own-brand cheese business to First Milk, the farmer-owned dairy company, in a deal understood to be worth £61.9m.

Dairy Crest’s portfolio includes spreads Country Life, Vitalite and Willow; yoghurt drink Frijj and cheeses Cathedral City, Hartington and Over the Moon. It also develops and markets chilled yoghurt and dessert products for Yoplait as part of a joint venture with the company.

Last month, Dairy Crest appointed ex-Somerfield group logistics and IT director Martin Oakes as executive managing director for its dairies division, replacing Mark Allen who stepped up as chief executive of the company.