MOLSON PARES DOWN QUEBEC AGENCY ROSTER
By Adnews Staff
Molson Breweries is giving Cossette Communication-Marketing of Montreal a shot at the Molson Export account in Quebec. The agency will launch a TV and print campaign for the brand at a date yet to be announced. If it is successful, Cossette will be given the business full-time. Molson Export brand director Len Rhodes wouldn't say yesterday what would happen to the account if the campaign is not successful. The business has been pulled from Marketel of Montreal, which took it on last November. The brewer has also shifted its Ultra brand out of Marketel, giving it to BCP in Montreal. Molson moved its Export and Ultra brands after deciding it wanted to work with fewer agencies in Quebec, said Rhodes. BCP and Cossette have both been with Molson longer than Marketel and had a larger portion of the beer maker's account than Marketel had, Rhodes pointed out. BCP has the Molson Dry, Black Label, O'Keefe, Miller and Ultra brands in Quebec. Cossette has Grand Norde and the Carling family, as well as Export for now. MacLaren McCann in Toronto handles advertising for Export and Ultra in English Canada. Marketel is 49%-owned by MacLaren McCann's parent, the Interpublic Group of Companies. Molson restructured its marketing operations late last year to develop a more regional focus, giving local managers more authority and making them more accountable for sales in their regions.