P&O Stena plans 15m relaunch blitz

P&O Stena Line, the newly merged cross-channel ferry company, will spend 15m on a relaunch campaign, which starts in the summer.

As a teaser, the company is launching a poster campaign in the South-east at the beginning of March, using a temporary tag line “new company, new policy”.

P&O Stena hopes to finalise a new strapline within two weeks, which will act as an umbrella brand for the company.

John Govett, P&O Stena marketing and sales director, says: “We have one core idea to span all customers. We will then use different mediums to reach a broad church. I expect at least half of the spend to be on TV.”

The long awaited merger between the two companies received its final approval last week when President of the Board of Trade Margaret Beckett gave the go-ahead.

J Walter Thompson, which handled Stena’s advertising, beat P&O’s former agency Bates Dorland to the combined full-service account in November. Media planning and buying will be through MindShare.

JWT will lead the communications team which will comprise, among others, Coley Porter Bell, Ogilvy One, Promotional Campaigns, The Henley Centre and Research International.