BURNETT TOASTING WITH JOHNNIE WALKER
By Adnews Staff
The United Distillers division of U.K.-based Guiness PLC, has poured all its Johnnie Walker scotch whisky business into the London office of Leo Burnett Company. The worldwide account for Red and Black Label, estimated to bill from $45 million(US) to $80 million, was previously split up among six agencies. This included Burnett which had the brand in Australia, Latin America and Lebanon. In Canada, United Distillers recently turned over its account to Communiqué, a Toronto-based agency which is opening a Montreal office to service Distillers whose Canadian head office is in the latter city. The previous agency, Blouin Coulombe Dubé Thompson, handled local brands, while Leo Burnett had national brands. North American advertising for Johnnie Walker came from the agency that lost the business to Burnett in the U.S. with the global consolidation, Avrett, Free & Ginsberg in New York. Creative for Black Label in Canada also came from all of the distiller's international stable of agencies working on Johnnie Walker. United Distillers Canadian marketing vice-president Hasan Imam told Adnews Friday that he could not say what the situation in Canada would be until officially notified by head office. Burnett was the winner in a six-month competition with other United Distillers agencies: McCann-Erickson Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson, Tokyu, and WCRS.