RPM3 beats four to win Greggs £3m account

Nationwide bakery chain Greggs has appointed RPM3 to its £3m advertising account following a four-way pitch.

RPM3 beat off competition from bds beechwood, J Walter Thompson and incumbent Robson Brown to win the business. The pitch was handled by the AAR. RPM3’s first task for Greggs is understood to be a TV campaign. Greggs has also appointed Austin West Media to handle its media account.

Greggs has 1,144 outlets across the UK, including 239 Bakers Oven stores, acquired in 1994. The appointment of an ad agency is part of a plan to reposition the company as a fast-food outlet. The Newcastle company, which is a well established brand in Scotland and northern England, also wants to raise its profile in the South.

Greggs was founded as a family bakery business on Tyneside in the Thirties by John Gregg, father of present chairman Ian Gregg.

In March, Greggs reported a pre-tax profit of £32.7m for the year to December 29, up 24.2 per cent on the previous year. It is the tenth consecutive year of profit growth.

Greggs now plans to increase its number of UK outlets by 50 per cent by 2008 and test a store in Paris as part of an expansion into mainland Europe.