At the same time, Leo Burnett Chicago was named as the agency on the global Leffe account, one of Interbrew's boutique Belgian beer brands. McCann-Erickson was the incumbent on the Hoegaarden account, which it won in March 2002 after a pitch against Mother and Leo Burnett.
The Belgian brewing giant is reviewing its global brand portfolio to slim the number of advertising agencies it uses. Earlier this month, BBH beat off competition from Mother to take the Castlemaine XXXX brand. It already handled advertising for Murphy's stout and Boddingtons.
Interbrew is hoping that both relationships will be for the long term, charging the agencies with challenging current marketing ideas and providing cost-effective marketing plans, as well as developing and implementing new campaigns across their global networks.
Simon Thorpe, senior vice-president of marketing at Interbrew, said: "The agencies will provide Interbrew with clear and effective marketing ideas for the brand which they represent -- ideas which are rooted in the quality and originality of these speciality beers. Their goal is to create a sustainable, broad appeal for the brands over the next 10 to 15 years, based on insightful consumer analysis."
Lowe, which retains the global account for Stella Artois, is not affected by the review.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .