Wieden + Kennedy was recently awarded STRIDE gum’s advertising business in the US. W+K’s responsibilities will cover the U.S. market and include digital and social media activity. The account will be led from Wieden + Kennedy’s London office.

Stephanie Wilkes, vice president US Confections at Kraft Foods, says she is eager to partner with Wieden + Kennedy. “Their understanding of the STRIDE brand and gum category is exceptional and we’re eager to see its creative be taken to the next level of success.” 

Neil Christie, Managing Director of Wieden + Kennedy London, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to work with Kraft Foods on the STRIDE business. We’re looking forward to doing some great work together.”

About Stride Gum
STRIDE, The Ridiculously Long Lasting Gum was launched in 2006 to give gum chewers a fun, unique and long lasting chewing experience. STRIDE gum, a Kraft Foods brand, comes in 11 flavors – Winterblue, Spearmint, Sweet Peppermint, Forever Fruit, Sweet Berry, Sweet Cinnamon, Nonstop Mint, Uber Bubble, Stride Spark and Whitemint.  To find out more about STRIDE gum, our friends and what the brand is up to, visit:

www.stridegum.com

and

www.facebook.com/stride-gum

Arla Foods has awarded the global advertising contract for its Lurpak brand to Wieden + Kennedy (W+K), taking over from Saatchi and Saatchi, following W+K’s  tremendous success with Lurpak in the UK.

Wieden + Kennedy has been the advertising agency for Lurpak in the UK from late 2006, and since then sales of the brand have increased by 50 per cent, which equates to an extra £83m. During this time Lurpak has overtaken Flora to become the number one BSM brand in the UK, with Lurpak now £55m ahead of its competitor.

Laurence Fischer, vice president for Global BSM at Arla, said: “Saatchi and Saatchi, who have been the advertising agency for Lurpak globally for almost two years, delivered great results for the brand and we will continue to work with them in the Middle East and on other projects. However, it made sense, business-wise, for us to move total responsibility of Lurpak to one agency.

Wieden + Kennedy have achieved tremendous success with Lurpak in the UK and we are delighted to award them the global contract for the brand. We all now look forward to seeing their plans for the future.”

Since the launch of the 'Good Food Deserves Lurpak' campaign by Wieden and Kennedy in 2007, ROI has improved by 51 per cent. The campaign won the brand over a dozen industry awards including: best marketing campaign in the world at the 2008 Dairy Innovation Awards; two golds at the British Television Awards; a Golden Gramia (The Grocer Marketing & Advertising Awards); a silver APG award for strategy; and a silver at the Cannes Lions awards.

Neil Christie, Managing Director of Wieden + Kennedy, said: “Good food deserves Lurpak. And Lurpak deserves great work. We're very proud of what we've done in the UK and absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to build on that internationally.”

Wieden + Kennedy also look after Cravendale and Lactofree in the UK. Since winning the Cravendale account in 2006, both volume and value have doubled with the brand now being worth £169m, while Lactofree has tripled in volume and value in the last three years.

Cravendale’s latest ‘Milk Matters’ campaign saw over 4 million youtube views for the ‘cats with thumbs’ advert and received a number of prestigious awards, including a Thinkbox award and a Cannes Lions award, which recognised the use of digital, direct mail, viral and TV to deliver a fully integrated campaign. The brand is also nominated for best campaign in 2011 in Campaign magazine, with Arla nominated as 'best advertiser'. 

Simon Stevens, senior vice president for commercial at Arla, said: “Wieden + Kennedy have done an exceptional job over the last five years, consistently producing great work which has driven outstanding sales growth and built consumer love for our brands. Lurpak, Cravendale and Lactofree have all achieved phenomenal growth, with Lurpak becoming the UK’s number one dairy brand and Cravendale being the fastest growing top 100 food brand over the last five years.”