Fosters accuses GPY&R of failing to deliver Sonja Koremans
Fosters has pulled its multi-million advertising account from George Patterson Y&R claiming it “lost confidence” in the agency and arguing it had failed to deliver on its flagship brand.
The brewing giant has withdrawn all accounts from GPY&R, including VB, Corona, Cougar Bourbon and Fifth Leg, ending a 40-year partnership.
Peter Sinclair, Foster’s general manager of the beer category, said the company had been dissatisfied with the ad shop’s creative on VB for months.
The company severed ties with GPY&R yesterday afternoon and immediately put the account up for pitch with The Agency Register.
“VB is our key brand and we have to be relentless in our pursuit in world-class creative for all of our brands, particularly VB and we have lost confidence in the agency’s ability to deliver the outcomes required for the VB/ Fosters business,” Sinclair said.
He said the warning bells had been sounded earlier this year.
“We have had a core campaign for VB on the go for a while now and GPY&R haven’t been able to deliver on that. In April this year as part of a wide review of our advertising roster, Crown, Carlton Draft and Pure Blonde were moved from the agency in an attempt to ensure they could focus single-mindedly on that brief.”
He said the account withdrawal had “been difficult but definitely the right decision for the business”.
“Foster in its different guises has had a relationship with GPY&R over four decades which makes this a tough decision.”
But an insider at GPY&R accused Foster’s of failing to support its most recent VB Stubby Symphony campaign.
The insider, who asked not to be named, said: “I couldn’t understand why they were refusing to support the VB Stubby Symphony. They wouldn’t put it on television and they wouldn’t PR it which seemed a curious thing to do seeing we had previously been asked to PR it and get people talking about it. Being a viral you need to drive people to the site to see it and they refused to do that. The worse thing to happen for them is the agency to produce a successful ad only for them to be fired.”
Matt McGrath CEO of Y&R Brands said: “We regret our relationship with Fosters has ended after more than 40 years.
“In that time we have produced some iconic campaigns for their brands – work from John Mellion’s hard earned thirst for VB, the Big Ad, the talking Boony and Botham dolls, and the current VB Symphony has had huge international exposure and more than 1 million hits since its release last week. We have a proud history with Fosters and I believe the work we have done for them is among the best in this category in the world. It has also delivered some formidable results for their brands.”
Badger Ogilvy was handed the Crown Lager account with Carlton Draft and Pure Blond awarded to Clemenger BBDO during the agency restructure earlier in the year.
Sinclair said Fosters was pleased with the agencies’ work so far. “We are delighted with what they are both doing,” Sinclair said.
The company’s replacement for GPY&R will be announced early next year, Sinclair said. “The phone has been ringing hot with agencies, large and small, trying to get a hold of Australia’s biggest brand.”
