Ribena Appoints BBH as New Advertising Agency

Ribena has announced that Bartle Bogle Hegarty will be its new advertising agency after a competitive pitch. Britain’s much-loved blackcurrant drinks brand, owned by Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, made the appointment as it seeks to build on its brand purpose and sustainability efforts. 

BBH follows incumbent Wunderman Thompson after the brand announced it would be looking for a new agency in June. Eight agencies were initially called for chemistry meetings with a further four asked to attend the final pitch.  

Helen Passard, head of marketing for Ribena said: “It’s been an extremely collaborative process and we’d like to thank all the agencies involved for the work they put in at each stage of the pitch. It was a strong final round, but we were particularly impressed with the creativity of BBH team. We’re really excited to have BBH with us for the next stage of the Ribena journey, we believe they are the right agency partner to help us deliver the brand’s purpose and positioning and propel the brand beyond the strong 15% growth we are currently seeing."

Helen Rhodes, executive creative director from BBH said: “Winning Ribena is like winning the juicy advertising lottery. It’s an iconic brand that is as synonymous with British culture as tea, cake, fish and chips and Harry Potter. The whole pitch process has been a dream and we can’t wait to get started in this exciting, new partnership.”

The new agency appointment follows the first dedicated consumer marketing campaign and TV sponsorship for the Ribena sparkling range which launched a couple of weeks ago on 4’s Friday Nights In strand that will run up to Christmas.