Hasta La Creative!

Norwegian Cruise Line has selected BBDO as its lead creative agency and OMD as its media buying and planning agency, Adweek reports.

The selections conclude a creative and media review launched in early April. BBDO will take over for incumbent The Martin Agency, who had worked with Norwegian Cruise Line since 2011 and did not participate in the review, and will be responsible for digital and traditional advertising. New work from BBDO is expected to make its debut in January. Norwegian Cruise Line spent around $33 million in measured media last year, according to Kantar Media.

Earlier this month, anonymous sources claimed the three finalists in the creative review were CP+B, TBWAChiatDay and R&R Partners, but clearly this was not a completely accurate account of the review, as BBDO was not named.

The review followed the company’s acquisition of Prestige Cruises International in November and subsequent appointment of Frank Del Rio as CEO, as well as the appointment of Andy Stuart as president and chief operating officer in January and Meg Lee as chief marketing officer in March. “The change in leadership has really crystalized a more aggressive growth strategy,” Lee explained to Adweek. “We want to grow our business internationally as we almost double our capacity in the next few years. Norwegian Cruise Line and the cruise industry are on an uptick and we are looking to capitalize on this business momentum.”

Bacardi has decided to consolidate creative and media for its major brands, choosing BBDO and OMD without a review, Adweek reported yesterday.

According to that publication, the process began with a secret meeting between Bacardi mangement, led by CEO Mike Dolan, and executives at BBDO and OMD. Within a couple of weeks the brand had struck a deal with the two agencies to consolidate its major brands, handing off both creative and media responsibilties to the pair of Omnicom shops. Prior to the consolidation, Bacardi worked with a wide variety of agencies on its creative accounts, with media handled by Mindshare in North America and Zenith in Europe.

“Our goal is to be able to work better and to create a closer alignment between our global and local operations,” Dolan said in a statement. “To achieve this goal requires that we work with a global network.”

“It was so unique in how this happened,” OMD worldwide CEO Mainardo de Nardis told Adweek. “It wasn’t about a review, pitches, presentations, spreadsheets, pricing. We feel empowered because this is a decision based on strategic discussions about how to improve Bacardi’s business. It’s a real partnership with a huge amount of trust. If only [all new business] could be like this.”

Among Bacardi’s 200 brands are flagship brand Bacardi, Grey Goose, Martini, Bombay Sapphire, Dewars and William Lawson’s. Due to a conflict of interest, BBDO will resign from Belvedere Vodka in the U.S. and Famous Grouse in the U.K.

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