FCB INFERNO
Last year, Campaign wrote that the legacy Inferno partners were keen to snag a big retail or financial client in 2016 as they kept their eye on their 2017 earnout. The agency was certainly on the new-business trail. It won the account for Npower, one of the big six energy companies. Its first work, which showcased the “super powers” of real people, is admittedly not a creative must-watch but it might work well with the public and on social channels.
After the success of “This girl can”, FCB Inferno won an account from Uefa to encourage more women across Europe to watch and take part in football. It maintained its spot on the government roster and picked up integrated work from Holland & Barrett.
The agency also nabbed Barnardo’s. It was a tough task to live up to the brilliant work of the charity’s previous partner, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, but FCB Inferno did so with a powerful and moving campaign that cast children as strong survivors, not victims.
FCB Inferno’s biggest loss was the Money Advice Service, which put its creative account up for review in February. FCB Inferno declined to repitch, which proved a shrewd move when, just weeks later, the site was scrapped in the Budget. Post Office, Match.com and Fairtrade also left.
FCB Inferno was named Integrated Agency of the Year at the Campaign Big Awards and took home a Cannes Lions Health Grand Prix for its work for Pearson’s Project Literacy.
It also made a strong addition to its bench, luring Giles Hedger, Leo Burnett’s chief strategy officer, to the same role, adding more heft to its already strong planning department.
Overall it was a good year for the agency but there’s still a space for that major retailer or financial brand.
It’s something for the Inferno partners to push for.