Lion Nathan Australia has dropped Saatchi & Saatchi and Host and shifted creative duties for its beer brands into BMF and Publicis Mojo.
The shake-up of Lion Nathan's creative agency arrangements will see the Tooheys New brand move from Saatchi & Saatchi to BMF. The Hahn
brands are moving from Saatchi & Saatchi to Publicis Mojo and the
James Squire brand is leaving Host for Publicis Mojo.
The move came after an agency review that aimed to drive “greater efficiency and effectiveness”.
Lion Nathan marketing director, Matt Tapper said: “It has been a very tough decision to make. We value very strategic and integrated relationships with our agencies and having reviewed our roster we feel we can achieve more effective and sustainable partnerships with two lead creative agencies rather than four.
“Making these changes at any time is difficult, but we have taken the opportunity to do this now at the commencement of our new financial year to deliver a more consistent scope of work for our lead agencies.
“We have great respect for the time we have shared with Saatchi & Saatchi and Host and the contribution they have made in building our brands. We thank them and wish them every success in the future.”
Saatchi and Saatchi’s most recent work with Lion Nathan was the Tooheys New "Beer Economy" campaign, and the agency also devised the "Stay Premium Gentlemen" campaign for Hahn Super Dry.
Saatchi & Saatchi chief executive John Foley said: "While we respect Lion Nathan’s consolidation decision, we naturally would have preferred to be on the right side of the decision. But that’s business – we’ll take it on the chin and move on.
"We are incredibly proud of the work we have produced for Lion Nathan - particularly in recent times. As Lion Nathan have said, the ‘Beer Economy’ campaign for Toohey’s New has been hugely successful and highly awarded. Meanwhile we were incredibly excited about moving the Hahn Super Dry brand forward too.
“So moving forward, as one of the best beer advertising agencies in Australia, we very much look forward to catching up for a beer or two with a brand that wants to share in our experience, passion & category expertise.”
Lion Nathan spent an estimated $28.9 million on main media in the 12 months to June 2010 on beer brands, up from $22.4 million in the previous corresponding period, according to Nielsen.
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