Bates HK wins Coke summer promotion biz

<p>Bates Hong Kong has snatched the multi-million dollar Coca-Cola </p><p>summer promotion campaign from D'Arcy in a pitch that was called after </p><p>Coke said the incumbent agency did not impress. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Coke Hong Kong and Macau country manager Scott Price said: "We chose </p><p>Bates based upon a very good creative concept as well as an overall well </p><p>thought-out campaign proposal. I think it's a brilliant, brilliant </p><p>programme. I'm very impressed with them." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The account went up for pitch after a number of senior D'Arcy staff, who </p><p>handled the Coke business, left the agency over a one-month period (see </p><p>MEDIA, March 3. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>D'Arcy has since made a number of significant new hires to fill the gaps </p><p>(see also page 26 this issue). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>D'Arcy's new Greater China chairman, Jimmy Lam, said the new people will </p><p>give the agency new creative firepower. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other agencies which pitched for the account but came away unsuccessful </p><p>were McCann-Erickson and Leo Burnett. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The pitch focused on both creative and strategic recommendations for </p><p>Coke's summer promotion. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The win for Bates follows the agency strengthening its creative and </p><p>strategic structure through the recent appointments of Mr Aris </p><p>Theophilakis as regional creative director and Ms Ayesha Walawalker as </p><p>regional director of strategic planning. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency has also won a number of new accounts around Asia-Pacific </p><p>worth some US$12 million, not including the Coke account. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>They included 2cube.com, a stock-trading joint venture between Jardine </p><p>Fleming and PCCW HKT, chinaren.com and Avon Thailand. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, it hasn't all been smooth sailing for Bates. Just recently, the </p><p>agency resigned the Bossini account after just one month on the job. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency took the account from Cove-Ito with a great idea, an agency </p><p>source said, but problems began in the execution. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The source said: "Bossini's positioning is 'We care about the world' but </p><p>what does that mean (for a fashion brand)." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Bossini has since rehired Cove-Ito. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>1999 China 4As Agency Ranking </p><p>(All figures in HKdollars millions) </p><p>1999 1999 1998 YOY 1998 </p><p>Rank Name of Agency Billings Billings % change Rank </p><p>1 Saatchi & Saatchi Great Wall 1,060.70 1,038.50 2.1% 1 </p><p>2 Ogilvy & Mather China 847.93 849.54 -0.2% 2 </p><p>3 J. Walter Thompson China 732.94 577.90 26.8% 5 </p><p>4 Leo Burnett - China 721.86 780.81 -7.5% 3 </p><p>5 Bates China 700.24 662.23 5.7% 4 </p><p>6 Grey China 565.06 514.37 9.9% 6 </p><p>7 Euro RSCG 402.01 393.90 2.1% 8 </p><p>8 D'Arcy 318.02 362.68 -12.3% 7 </p><p>9 DDB China 255.48 206.43 23.8% 10 </p><p>10 *FCB China 202.75 223.20** -9.2% 9 </p><p>11 BBDO/CNUAC 115.80 149.89 -22.7% 11 </p><p> TOTAL 5,922.79 5,759.45 2.8% </p><p>* FCB and Bozell merged in September 1999 reported jointly as FCB China. </p><p>** FCB and Bozell billings combined for comparison purposes. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>