McCann-Erickson wins €10m Heineken account with local knowledge and humour

Heineken has moved its €10 million advertising account to McCann-Erickson in what is thought to be the biggest account move of the year.

This is the first time in five years that the beer account will be managed by an Irish advertising agency. The move back to a Dublin-based agency reverses a trend which in recent years has seen the creative work for most major beer brands being done by UK or American agencies.

"The talent is very clearly here and I wanted a local agency for the brand," says Mr Michael van der Poel, who has been marketing director at Heineken Ireland for the past six months.

For much of that time he has been involved in the three-way pitch, which began in June when Ogilvy & Mather, Chemistry and McCann-Erickson were invited to pitch. The business includes all aspects of the brand's marketing including its extensive portfolio of sponsorships. Most of the budget will be spent on above-the-line consumer advertising.

While the pitch had a creative element, Mr van der Poel says he was more interested in selecting an agency that demonstrated the best understanding of the brand's consumer and the brand.

According to Mr van der Poel, Heineken has a 31 per cent share of the Irish lager market and the new arrangement with McCann's will see it rewarded if that share increases. The combination of fees plus performance-based bonuses is becoming the most common method of remuneration in the industry which had been dominated by a commission system based on media spend. "The remuneration structure incorporates an element of market share performance," he says, "and there are other performance-related bonuses such as measurement of the brand against various image parameters." In other words, the right people have to be seen drinking the beer in the right places.

The pitch was keenly contested by the three agencies not least because it appears to offer an opportunity to develop campaigns that will be seen outside Ireland.

Due to international brand alignment, the Heineken campaigns currently seen here and in the UK have been the very obviously US- generated campaign by the Lowe group.

The new McCann-Erickson created advertising, which will be seen from the middle of next year, will not be continuing with an American theme. Mr van der Poel promises witty advertising saying that "consumers expect there to be humour in beer advertising".

The use of the US campaign in the UK is also under discussion so campaigns developed here could be used in that and other markets.

Alcohol advertising made the news last week when three beer advertisements were banned by the Irish Advertising Standards Authority and there was media comment that part of the problem was that the three campaigns - for Coors, Guinness and Carlsberg - were not developed for this market and so were somehow out of touch with the cultural reference points here. Part of the reason Mr van der Poel was interested in securing a local agency was, he says, because a "local agency will have local knowledge and understanding".

McCann-Erickson Dublin is part of the McCann-Erickson WorldGroup and its clients include Coca-Cola Ireland, Bord Fáilte and Glanbia.

The pre-Christmas deluge of perfume advertising has begun with both Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) launching controversial campaigns featuring nude men.

Last year French fashion house Dior was forced to withdraw its nude Sophie Dahl advertisement in several markets following consumer complaints. This year its competitor YSL has again opted for so-called "porno chic" in a print campaign for its new M7 aftershave.

The advertisement, featuring a full frontal male nude shot, will appear in European fashion glossies such as French Vogue. Irish viewers of cable television will already have seen P&G's new black and white television advertisement for its Lacoste Homme aftershave featuring a male model drinking a cup of tea and generally wandering around his stylish apartment in the nude. The advertisement was shot by photographer Herb Ritts.

The takeover of Daewoo by General Motors last week will bring new business to Des O'Meara & Partners advertising agency. GM Daewoo in Ireland is to invest €1 million in the promotion of the new Kalos marque and the aim is to develop market share to 5 per cent in three years. The campaign will begin in early November on television, radio and press.

It is a frequent complaint that Irish radio advertising is dominated by middle class Dublin accents that are so bland they blend into each other after a while.

For its current Eircom Net campaign featuring a new employee being introduced around the office, Eircom tried out a distinctive Cork accent for the boss who takes offence at the new recruit's comments about another employee who happens to be his daughter.

Public reaction was so negative that after a week on air the 30-second advertisement was re-recorded using a more "neutral" sounding actor.