FMCG giant Mondelez called a pitch of Cadbury’s UK advertising account last week, after 11 years with Publicis Groupe’s Fallon London. It is understood that Fallon will not contest the business.
Publicis Communications, which owns Fallon and Saatchi & Saatchi, is putting a team together to respond to the brief.
The account is Fallon’s largest piece of business and accounts for around 30% of its revenues. However, when considering Fallon’s client roster by individual brands, Cadbury accounts constitute 50% of the list.
Prior to the arrival of chief executive Gareth Collins in 2015 and the agency picking up three new accounts in 2016, Cadbury was just over half the business by revenue.
Last July Fallon beat Anomaly and Joint to Expedia, which subsequently awarded the shop the additional eBookers.com account. Fallon also snared Axa’s lead strategic and creative account in September without a pitch.
Djaba, who is also global president of Saatchi & Saatchi, said: "I’m proud of the new business record at Fallon over the last 12 months. This was our evidence that the guys are doing the right thing."
However, Djaba conceded that Fallon London had work to do to improve its creative product. "I’d be the first to say that they need to push the creative standard," Djaba said.
Alongside Collins’ Fallon’s top team includes Nick Bell, executive creative director, and Jason Knight, head of strategy. The agency had 55 staff at the end of 2016, according to its most recent school report, down 33% year on year.
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