It’s been a busy few weeks for Irish International. The Dublin-based agency, which is headed up by Ian Young, has been picked by Mars to oversee all its European shopper marketing activities in Europe while at the same time the agency has announced that it has picked up the accounts for Bord Bia, Newstalk and NFL.
The shopper marketing contract for Mars in Europe is a significant win for the agency and the appointment covers shopper marketing work for Mars and Wrigley including M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, Extra, Orbit, Dolmio, Uncle Bens, Pedigree and Whiskas.
The account is expected to generate a significant “seven figure annual fee” according to the agency. Fourteen new positions have been created in Irish International’s Shopper Marketing division over recent months as a result of this win, as well as increased involvement with Diageo in Western Europe.
Shopper Marketing is a discipline that uses an understanding of shopper attitudes and behaviour to influence brand choice along the path to purchase. It encompasses a range of activities including display, promotions and point of purchase advertising.
Sinead Lee, Director on the Mars business in Irish International, said that delivering best in class creative work whilst demonstrating a keen understanding of the challenges facing brands which need to drive scale across multiple markets, were key to the win.
Commenting, she said: “This is a very significant appointment for Irish International, cementing our position in the roster of BBDO agencies servicing the Mars account globally. To secure this very significant piece of business, we had to demonstrate our understanding of both the European retail environment and the differing consumer dynamics within each market. This win underlines Irish International’s position as Ireland’s foremost creative agency and positions us well for future opportunities of a similar size and scale.”
