Tesco boss brings in new ad agency

LONDON: The new boss of British supermarket Tesco Plc has drafted in BBH, an advertising agency behind a series of high profile campaigns, to rebuild its brand after an accounting scandal added to its image problems.

Bartle Bogle Hegarty is an award-winning British agency owned by France’s Publicis Groupe SA which has worked for consumer brands including Audi, Levi Strauss, British Airways and Johnnie Walker.

Tesco’s new chief executive Dave Lewis, a marketing expert who worked for consumer goods group Unilever for 27 years, said he had appointed BBH and consultants Blue Rubicon to help management turn around the firm’s reputation.

“Both businesses will play a central role as Tesco reconnects with customers and rebuilds trust in the brand in the coming years,” he said in a statement.

Lewis knows both companies from his time at Unilever, with BBH behind the “Lynx Effect” adverts for its deodorant brand as well as campaigns for Omo and Surf detergents and Vaseline ointment.

Other notable BBH campaigns include creating the “Vorsprung durch Technik” (Progress Through Technology) catchphrase to help sell Audi cars.

Marketing experts have speculated that Lewis might ditch Tesco’s dated red-andblue logo and its “Every Little Helps” slogan used since 1992 that has been twisted of late to mock the struggling retailer.

According to marketing consultancy Interbrand, the value of the Tesco brand fell 16% last year to $9 billion, leaving it behind France’s Carrefour SA as Europe’s most valuable supermarket name.

Lewis said Blue Rubicon was a proven adviser to boards on corporate and brand turnarounds and would lead on reputation strategy. It has won awards for work with brands from Coca-Cola to Tesco’s rival Sainsbury’s.

Tesco is ending its relationship with ad agency Wieden+Kennedy, which had been its lead creative and strategic agency since 2012.

Its financial public relations adviser, Brunswick Group LLP, would retain its role.