Live & Breathe MD speaks out after Zavvi woe
Live & Breathe managing director, Nick Gray, has insisted that the agency will be able to deal with the loss of retail client Zavvi following the chain's collapse into administration.
Zavvi called in administrators on Christmas Eve just weeks after Live & Breathe had launched the retailer's seasonal through-the-line campaign.
The entertainment chain appointed the Leeds and London-based agency last April on a retained basis to handle its in-store marketing and a range of strategic brand assignments. The agency won that brief having already delivered the entire re-brand for Zavvi when its retail outlets were transformed from the Virgin Megastores of its previous management.
Gray told The Drum: “Of course the loss of a client like Zavvi has impacted on our business but it’s not something that we can’t deal with. After over 20 years working in the retail sector we have learnt how to plan for every eventuality, whether supporting our clients’ strategies in the face of adversity or managing our own business in difficult times.
“The upside is that we have capacity for new business and with two large pitches in progress at the moment we are feeling very positive. Moreover, we have taken on a new creative director, Owen Catto, who joins us from Marketing Store, and we have our sights set high for 2009.”
Gray said that “no one" could have predicted the downfall of Zavvi. "The tragedy is they were bucking the trend on the High Street and delivering some great results. No one deserves this sort of bad luck and it leaves a real gap in the sector," he said.
He added Live & Breathe “would be a natural partners for Zavvi's marketing communications requirements” again if the retailer is sold as a going concern.