BDH\TBWA holds off BMB to win ghd’s seven-figure advertising business
BDH\TBWA has won the ghd advertising account after a head-to-head pitch with Beattie McGuinness Bungay.
The two firms were selected to pitch from an initial shortlist of eight agencies, after it was revealed in December that the relationship between ghd’s parent company Jemella and Propaganda - the incumbent on the account - was coming to an end.
Manchester-based BDH\\TBWA will assume control of the account in mid-March, handling all brand communications in the UK and overseas.
BDH\\TBWA chief executive Robert Harwood-Matthews, who joined the agency in September last year, said: “Ghd is a fantasically sex, ambitious and creative brand. We are really excited about the win and are thrilled to have beaten the biggest hair in the business.”
The agency and client issued a statement confirming the account’s media spend could rise to £10 million, with the firm expected to put effort into building its reputation outside of the UK. However, according to MMS billings, in 2006 the firm spent £2.8 million on marketing the brand globally.
The firm recently launched an £800,000 extension of its Gospel campaign, running for six-weeks on terrestrial and satellite TV channels. In 2004, Jemella invested £5 million in consolidating its position in the market.
Propaganda, which is believed to have resigned the business, first started working on ghd in 2002, taking the brand on TV in 2003. In the same year, Propaganda chairman Julian Kynaston was appointed as ghd’s marketing director, a post he has since resigned.
It is believed being part of the TBWA\\ network may have worked in BDH\\TBWA’s favour in being included in on the shortlist, paricularly in light of Jemella’s plans to take the brand into “emgerging markets” outside the UK.
Martin Penny, managing director at ghd, said: “We are very excited about moving the brand forward with BDH\\TBWA. Having them on board will give us the additional support we need with our global expansion plans.”