Accantia bolsters brand activity with £7m spend

by Samuel Solley, Marketing 13-Oct-04

Accantia is to increase advertising for its Simple and Lil-lets brands next year following the appointment of its first advertising agency of record for four years.

The cosmetics and toiletries firm has re-appoin-ted Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R to its account.

The agency, which last worked with Accantia in 2000, won the business without a pitch and is now working on a TV campaign for Simple that will break early next year.

Over the past 12 months, Accantia spent £1.5m on advertising, but is planning to increase that spend to £7m for next year.

The appointment follows an internal review, headed by chief executive Geoff Percy, of all Accantia's promotional output. The review will result in a renewed focus on brand-building activity.

Percy said: 'Both Simple and Lil-lets have distinctive positionings and are capable of significant growth, so there will be an increase in TV advertising over the course of the year.'

Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy handled the relaunch of the Simple brand last spring on a project basis.

Accantia will support the renewed advertising with increased NPD activity for both Simple and Lil-lets.

Earlier this year, Simple announced its first foray into babycare with the launch of a range of products under the Simple Baby range.

Accantia supported the line with a £1m campaign that encompassed sampling, advertising and a dedicated website. Percy said that further innovation would follow in 2005.

Simple is fourth in the facial skincare market, which is worth £531m, according to Mintel. Lil-lets is the number one non-applicator tampon manufacturer.