Grey SA has managed the Amstel brand since its repatriation in March 2007 and brandhouse has confirmed that Grey SA will stay on as the agency of record to bring the above-the-line advertising to life.
In line with brandhouse's policy, a short-list of aligned and non-aligned agencies was invited to participate in the Amstel review exercise, which was facilitated by Yardstick, a strategic consultancy specialising in performance measurement and evaluation within the marketing and communication environment. They were Grey Group SA with Creative Council, Re:act The Production Republic, Mortimer Harvey and OwenKessel
Commenting on the outcome of the appointment, Amstel marketing manager Willem van der Hoeven said, “It is very exciting to see the wealth of creative talent wishing to work on the Amstel account and it was a difficult choice but we believe we have made the right decision.”
The ECDC tender process was also adjudicated by Yardstick. The contract incorporates the full ambit of branding, marketing and communication activities, including a brand audit of the six-year old brand.
ECDC chief executive officer Mxolisi Matshamba, a former Trade Invest South Africa (TISA) CEO, believes that the brand audit comes at an opportune time for the organisation, which has recently finalised its executive team.
“We realise that an astute brand, that talks to stakeholders' needs, will create further impetus for us going forward in terms of our turnaround strategy which is entering its second and final phase. SMG Africa is a marketing service provider which has a proven track record in strategy and implementation and their inputs will be valuable to key ECDC initiatives planned for 2008,” says Matshamba.
Welcome addition
SMG Africa director Ashley Cocks says that the ECDC win is a welcome addition to the business whose other clients include the East London IDZ, which is one of only two operational IDZs in South Africa; Novate Property Investments, developers of the Triple Point mixed-use development in East London; Aspire, the Amathole District Municipality's economic development agency; the recently Alt-X listed Hardware Warehouse; and the Hluma Development Agency, an Old Mutual/DBSA initiative focusing on economic development on the Wild Coast.
