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

<p>SYDNEY: Levi Strauss has sacked its Australian agency, Clemenger </p><p>BBDO, effective immediately after just 18 months, with the client </p><p>deciding to take its A$4 million (about US$2 million) </p><p>account to a smaller shop. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Clemenger BBDO won the account after a highly competitive pitch process </p><p>early last year, following Levi's relocation to Melbourne. Managing </p><p>director of Clemenger Melbourne, Mark Pearce, said: "I'm not sure why </p><p>they have done it. We had a good relationship and produced some really </p><p>good work." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Pearce said Levi's managing director, Peter Murphy, indicated he would </p><p>be taking the account to a boutique agency. "He told me that was the way </p><p>they wanted to go. If that's the decision they've made, there's little </p><p>we can do about it," said Pearce. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"They have a new marketing team in there now - they aren't the ones that </p><p>appointed us." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Pearce said he was not losing any sleep as Levi's "wasn't one of our top </p><p>10 accounts". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Levi's was tight-lipped as to the future of the account and would not </p><p>comment on a new agency appointment. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>One of Clemenger's more famous Levi's television campaigns, which </p><p>depicted a homeless man wearing its jeans, was seen as a move back to </p><p>the icon television branding achieved by Levi's in the '80s and '90s. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>