Whitbread is hunting an agency to handle its CRM account across the entire brand portfolio – including Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Premier Inn, and Costa Coffee – to build stronger customer relationships.
The company is reported to have approached agencies earlier this week through the AAR. Pitches are expected to take place this month, with an appointment due in early September.
It is understood Whitbread has never had a retained agency working on CRM, but intends to develop a group-wide campaign to help bring its brands closer together. The strategy will also encourage cross-selling, promoting other brands in the portfolio.
Rainey Kelly handles advertising for Premier Inn brands, while Meteorite works on Costa Coffee.
After a long history of brewing, Whitbread Group, decided in 2001 to sell all its breweries and brewing interests to Interbrew, now known as InBev, to concentrate on hotels, coffee shops and restaurants.
Whitbread-branded alcoholic beverages are still available in the UK, such as canned Whitbread bitter, but these are not produced by InBev, merely produced under licence by other producers. InBev controls the use of the Whitbread brand, and the hind’s head logo, for use on beverages. In 2002 Whitbread sold its pub estate, known as the Laurel Pub Company, to Enterprise Inns.
