Partner Article

Ad agency refuses to work with Brown

The advertising agency behind Dove’s Real Women TV campaign has reportedly turned down an offer to help revive the image of Gordon Brown. Ogilvy UK explained that working to make over the Labour leader might cause division among its clients, whose brands also include Nestle, Motorola and IBM.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, the firm ruled itself out of the exercise for Number 10, saying not working with politicians or any political party is a company policy.

The paper also reported that Downing Street approached Ogilvy’s senior executive Paul Eden because he heads up the agency’s ‘field brand innovation’ team. Typically ‘FBI’ sees a researcher placed into a household to monitor people’s behaviour with certain products, including their motivations to buy them.

Using such a marketing process to help explain why people like or dislike a politician is thought to be a new move, though hiring PR firms for political makeovers is a well-established practice.

The PM has already given some of No 10’s top jobs to PR, advertising and marketing experts, including former employees of communications giants such as Brunswick PR and the BBC.

Labour is now likely to approach other advertising agencies to find one that is willing to carry out the FBI-led research, which is expected to be paid by the party, not by taxpayers. North East firms with an interest in politics are advised to keep their ears open…

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .