Haier shifts Olympic creative to DraftFCB

Media Asia 16-May-08, 11:19

QINGDAO - In a widely-anticipated move, Haier has shifted its Olympics creative assignment to key agency Draft FCB, ending its relationship with DDB, the agency appointed by former chief brand officer Larry Rinaldi.

DraftFCB will work alongside fellow IPG agency Initiative which is retained as Haier’s media planning and buying AOR. However, it is believed that the company has also ended its relationship with the two other Rinaldi-appointed agencies, Burson-Marsteller and Star Group.

“We have formulated a special taskforce to work on this assignment alongside our sister agency and media AOR Initiative Media, to provide a holistic solution,” said DraftFCB Greater China CEO Gary Tse.

“Time is running short so we are concentrating on providing a very effective Olympic campaign for Haier.”

DraftFCB becomes the third agency to work on the Olympics campaign in less than a year, after DDB and Y&R. The new campaign is expected to launch by the middle of July. “What’s happened is in the past, I have complete confidence in delivering a superb campaign,” said Tse.