LABATT ALIGNS WITH INTERPUBLIC GROUP
By Adnews Staff
Toronto-based Labatt Breweries is shifting both its media and creative accounts after announcing it will align its brand activity throughout North America with New York-based Interpublic Group's McCann-Erickson network. As a result of this realignment, Labatt is ending its long-term relationship with its media buying agency Harrison, Young, Pesonen and Newell of Toronto and is moving the account to Initiative Media, the Canadian arm of McCann-Erickson/Universal McCann's media operations. Initiative Media, as a result of the Labatt move, will resign as agency-of-record for Molson Breweries effective immediately. Molson's manager of corporate communications Paul Thomson said the brewery is reviewing its options at this point in time to come up with a solution. He said Molson was pretty surprised by Labatt's developments and had no advanced knowledge of the realignment. Possible solutions he said include conducting an agency review and looking at Molson's current agency roster. In the U.S., all media planning and buying for Labatt brands will be handled by the McCann Group. On the creative side, Toronto-based Ammirati Puris Lintas expands its relationship with Labatt as it takes on the North American English language creative assignment for Labatt's major brands, Labatt Blue, Blue Light and John Labatt Classic. Previously APL held the creative assignment for the brands in Canada. Ammirati will also continue to handle the Carlsberg brand assignment north of the border. The agency will drop Lintas from its name and will be known as Ammirati & Puris. The incumbent on the creative assignment was New York-based Lowe Lintas & Partners. News reports said the move to Ammirati in Toronto was due to the possibility of a client conflict. Lowe Lintas also creates ads for the Heineken brand in the U.S. Toronto Ammirati Puris & Lintas was not affected when Interpublic merged its ad network Lowe & Partners with Ammirati last fall. All agency assignments will take effect following a 90-day transition period.