Is AMV BBDO in the UK starting to motor at last? The Omnicom shop was the UK’s biggest agency by billings and reputation for decades, building on its founders, notably late creative chief David Abbott. Cilla Snowball was the CEO, one of the great account handlers but when she stepped down the trouble started. Eventually it was supplanted by Omnicom sibling adam&eveDDB.
Now under new group boss Xavier Rees, a refugee from Havas and before than A&E, things seem to be picking up. The agency has just landed all of global tissue company Essity, not the world’s biggest account but winning some business from Publicis in the process and also beating the formidable Serviceplan (now armed with Ace of Hearts) in the pitch.
Essity’s Ana Mota says: “Consumer tissue is a highly commoditised category, which makes outstanding creativity essential. To win with consumers, our brands must stand out with bold ideas that elevate everyday hygiene. AMV BBDO’s creative excellence will help us do exactly that.”
Creative excellence was what the agency always stood for. It’s won buckets of awards for Essity tampon brand Libresse (above) and that clearly helped with this. But you have to do the boring stuff too and, for quite a long period, AMV seemed to lose interest in that. Maybe Rees and co are whipping them into line.
