TBWA GGT Simons Palmer has won the coveted task of promoting the
Labour Party in the next general election after a successful pitch
against Saatchi & Saatchi and J. Walter Thompson last week.
The pitch process was handled by the Northern Ireland secretary, Peter
Mandelson, the voter focus group guru, Philip Gould, and the party
general secretary, Margaret McDonough.
Mandelson and Gould have a 15-year association with TBWA’s creative
director Trevor Beattie.
TBWA is also handling the advertising for Frank Dobson, Labour’s
official candidate for London mayor, and is currently preparing work for
the Government’s local election campaign.
The general election campaign will be led by Beattie, TBWA’s joint
managing director Johnny Hornby, and GGT Direct’s chairman Peter Herd,
who handled the Labour account during his time at BMP DDB.
Manning Gottlieb Media is believed to be handling media strategy.
Despite press speculation that the appointment would lead to a personal
assault on the Conservative frontmen William Hague and Michael Portillo,
both Beattie and TBWA’s chief operating officer, Neil Christie, stressed
that they were not planning a single strategy approach.
’It’s too early to say what the content will be but it won’t all be
knocking the Tories,’ Christie said.
Beattie emphasised the need to ’explain the good things that (Labour)
has done’.
Interview, p16.
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