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The Publicis Groupe agency triumphed over Anomaly London, CHI & Partners and Grey London in a process handled by AAR.

Costa is keen to expand globally, particularly in China, after ten years of growth, and wanted to create a global agency model to cater for a new internal brand model.

The Whitbread-owned brand said its ambition is to replicate affinity for Costa on a global scale, across key geographies for both retail stores and the 6000 global touch-points for the Costa Express proposition.

The ad account will be run out of BBH London, supported in market by local offices such as BBH Shanghai. 

Ben Fennell, chief executive of BBH London, said: "BBH is thrilled to be working with Costa after what was an excellent pitch process. The brief was tight, the process was fast, and the clients were delightful. I'm confident that we will do great things together."

Neither of the brand's UK incumbents, 101 and Karmarama, repitched for the ad account.

The brand kicked off a review in February, a week after hiring former Cadbury marketer Sarah Barron as chief marketing officer. Barron replaced Carol Welch, who left Costa to join Odeon as UK managing director.

Costa was looking for a single agency to create six global campaigns a year, as well as brand development and activation across the UK, China, Dubai and Poland.

Caroline Harris, global brand director at Costa, said: "We are delighted to confirm the appointment of BBH as our lead global creative agency. We’ve been really impressed with their strategic planning and creative strategy through the pitch.

"We had a fantastic chemistry with the team and they have a great understanding of target customers, as well as a genuine appreciation of the differences across our key geographies. We’re excited to start working with them on the next stage in our brand development."