ABBOTT MEAD VICKERS BBDO
No account of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO’S year can start without acknowledging the seismic loss of Sainsbury’s. Losing out on the supermarket’s ad business to Wieden & Kennedy after 35 years was a massive blow to fiercely competitive chief executive Ian Pearman and everyone at the agency. Classy to the end, AMV went out with a bang with the delightful stopmotion animation “The greatest gift” for Christmas.
The four account wins in 2016 are an improvement on the previous year’s performance. But with Hiscox the biggest account at £8m, the wins lack the “wow” factor to fill the Sainsbury’s-shaped hole. Furthermore, another major setback came at the end of the year when AMV lost its place on the government roster.
AMV parted ways with managing director Richard Arscott in October – he left for a tech start-up – but smartly used the opportunity to nurture existing talent. As part of a mini-restructure, managing partner Justin Pahl was promoted to Arscott’s role, while chief innovation officer Jonny Spindler became chief operations officer. Less welcome people news involved Antony Nelson and Mike Sutherland, the pair behind the multi-award-winning Currys PC World work, defecting to sister shop Adam & EVE/DDB.
A creative highlight in 2016 was for Maltesers – a series of ads showing non-traditional depictions of disability. More taboo-breaking came with work for Bodyform, which broached the subject of menstrual blood. There was also a beautifully written series of spots for Whiskas. Meanwhile, innovative thinking was on show with the launch of Flare Studio, a crowdsourcing platform aimed at helping clients commission video content.
However, the shadow of Sainsbury’s and ongoing disquiet about the move mean that, despite highlights such as a stellar awards performance, 2016 is a year AMV may want to put behind it.