±±¾©Èü³µpk10

FMCG company PZ Cussons has appointed Fold7 to handle its advertising and social marketing across three key brands – Carex, Original Source and Imperial Leather – following a competitive pitch.

Fold7 succeeds previous incumbent Iris, which won the advertising business for the three brands in 2015. Iris, which created the Original Source campaign "Force of nature" that launched earlier this month, declined to repitch.

Fold7 will lead the strategy and creative across all platforms for each of the three brands, with its first campaign due early next year.

Megan Harrison, UK marketing director of PZ Cussons, said: “Fold7 displayed strong strategic and creative capabilities, digital vision and an entrepreneurial approach which made them a great agency partner. They understand big ideas which can be taken across digital and traditional platforms.”

Ryan Newey, founder and chief creative officer of Fold7, added: “PZ Cussons has an enviable portfolio of household names we have grown up with and love. This is a dream brief as we get to deploy our full in-house capabilities, big ideas living through social to broadcast."

While PZ Cussons saw a significant sales increase last year due to surging demand for hygiene products as the Covid pandemic took hold, this followed a period of decline.

Between its financial years ending in 2013 and 2019, revenue fell almost a third from £883 to £603m – an outcome that the business acknowledged in a strategy document in March had been due in part to underinvesting in its brands. 

For its core “must-win brands” – including Carex and Original Source, as well as fake tan product St Tropez – the business promised an approach including “competitive” brand investment levels and a strong innovation pipeline. It also outlined a series of sustainability measures and an ambition to become a B Corp by 2026.