Jim Beam has sided with the incumbents.
Three agencies that work on the bourbon brand in different regions—StrawberryFrog in the U.S., Jung von Matt in Germany and The Works in Australia—have collectively pitched and won Beam’s global creative business, according to sources. Total account revenue is estimated at $3 million.
Jim Beam is the namesake brand of Beam Inc., a company whose portfolio also includes Sauza and Hornitos tequila, Pinnacle and Effen vodka, Maker’s Mark bourbon and Courvoisier cognac.
Another contender for the flagship brand was Ogilvy & Mather, a roster shop that handles creative efforts on Pinnacle, said sources. The review began in the fall.
The winning agencies either declined to comment or could not be reached, but Beam, which is based in Deerfield, Ill., confirmed that the shops working on the brand had not changed.
StrawberryFrog’s past work for Jim Beam includes a black and white TV ad in which actor Willem Dafoe plays a string of different characters and supplies a voiceover. The tagline was, “Bold Choice.”
Global media spending on Jim Beam was not available. In the U.S. alone last year, spending exceeded $16 million, up from about $11 million in 2011, according to Nielsen. Those figures don’t include online spending.