Levi's drops BBDO on $4m Australian creative account

SYDNEY: Levi Strauss has sacked its Australian agency, Clemenger

BBDO, effective immediately after just 18 months, with the client

deciding to take its A$4 million (about US$2 million)

account to a smaller shop.

Clemenger BBDO won the account after a highly competitive pitch process

early last year, following Levi's relocation to Melbourne. Managing

director of Clemenger Melbourne, Mark Pearce, said: "I'm not sure why

they have done it. We had a good relationship and produced some really

good work."

Pearce said Levi's managing director, Peter Murphy, indicated he would

be taking the account to a boutique agency. "He told me that was the way

they wanted to go. If that's the decision they've made, there's little

we can do about it," said Pearce.

"They have a new marketing team in there now - they aren't the ones that

appointed us."

Pearce said he was not losing any sleep as Levi's "wasn't one of our top

10 accounts".

Levi's was tight-lipped as to the future of the account and would not

comment on a new agency appointment.

One of Clemenger's more famous Levi's television campaigns, which

depicted a homeless man wearing its jeans, was seen as a move back to

the icon television branding achieved by Levi's in the '80s and '90s.