As if to punctuate its win earlier this week of Wal-Mart's $570 million account, Carat USA announced yesterday that it has added Bravo! Brands to its client roster.
Carat will be
the company's first media agency of record, handling both buying and planning for the company's two milk-flavored beverages, Slammers and Bravo. Billings were not disclosed.
The agency comes on
board as Bravo! Brands plans to increase its marketing efforts in the wake of partnership deals with Masterfoods and General Foods that have created co-branded flavored milk drinks with Milky Way,
Three Musketeers, Trix, Coco-Puffs and other popular kids' foods and treats.
Carat won the business without a review, and will run the account out of its Atlanta office. Stan Harris, CMO for the
client, often used Carat as the media agency when he ran his own creative shop, Harris Drury Cohen.
"I already knew how good they are," Harris says. "They bring tremendous clout, but beyond that,
they're strong strategic thinkers who showed they understand the personality of our brands. Slammers is very different from Bravo!"
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Harris says Bravo! does a great deal of spot TV buying--which
Carat excels at--and radio advertising. The media company promises to bring value-added opportunities to radio buys. Carat will also expand the brands' presence online.
"Bravo has demonstrated a
visionary approach to media, making them a perfect partner," says Ray Warren, president of Carat Media Group Americas, in a statement. "We are poised to respond with a family of resources certain to
deliver transformational results."
Creative for the account is currently held in-house, although Harris said an outside agency would likely be hired at some point in the future.