Labour turns to Saatchis

by Claire Beale, Campaign 14-Sep-07

The ad agency that brought Margaret Thatcher to power has been appointed to handle the Labour Party's ad account ahead of the next election, Campaign has learned.

Saatchi & Saatchi beat a shortlist of Beattie McGuinness Bungay,
Profero and Albion to land the account.

Saatchis is understood to have clinched the business after impressing
Labour with the breadth and depth of its creative ideas (including the

poster ad above), its capacity as a big agency and the new management

approach under the SSF chief executive, Robert Senior. The pitch was
led by Senior and the creative director, Kate Stanners.

Douglas Alexander, Labour's general election co-ordinator, said: "I can
confirm we have appointed Saatchi & Saatchi and we're delighted to have
them on board."

Senior added: "This is a seminal moment for Saatchi & Saatchi and a
seminal moment for Kate and myself. It's a real statement of intent for
the agency. We have the opportunity to take the strength and conviction
that Gordon Brown has shown as Prime Minister and apply our creativity
to that to do the right thing for the country."

For years, the Saatchis name was synonymous with Conservatism, even
though the agency actually resigned the Tory account in 1987. It
created the legendary "Labour isn't working" ad that helped bring
Thatcher to power in 1979, and the Conservative ad account helped turn
the Saatchi brothers into household names.

There are no details yet about the timing of Labour's pre-launch ad
campaign, nor the budget it will deploy, although a £2 million
donation last week from Lord Sainsbury will have helped swell the
Party's coffers.