WE'D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING: This week's
ADVERTISING AGE reports that Coca-Cola Co. "is orchestrating an
international agency shuffle as it reviews brand assignments
around the world." In Asia and Australia, creative
responsibility for Fanta goes to D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in
Hong Kong, from McCann-Erickson Worldwide; in Sweden, Hall &
Cederquist and Young & Rubicam will split Coca-Cola and Sprite
assignments, while Lowe Brindfors handles Fanta; in Norway, Coca-
Cola, Coke Light, and Sprite move to Leo Burnett (AD AGE, 11/14
issue).
HEAD EAST: Thirsty to match the success of Pabst Blue
Ribbon -- which annually sells 2.8M barrels in China -- the G.
Heileman Brewing Company "has signed an agreement with an
investment group led by Hong Kong Investments Ltd. to brew,
distribute, and market its Lone Star beer through 23 Chinese
Breweries." John Brennan, Heileman's Int'l VP, says the
company's difficult regional experience in the U.S. has helped
them better "understand fragmented markets like China." Brennan:
"China is the perfect place for us to expand. Where we can do
best is where we don't have a major internationally known brand
to compete against and where growth is more opportunity-driven
than brand driven." Brennan says Heileman chose to market Lone
Star in China "because of the Far East's affinity for Americana,
especially cowboys and Texas." China is expected to become the
world's top beer market by 2000 -- surpassing the U.S. (Marj
Charlier, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/14).
PEPSICO SAYS NYET TO VODKA DEAL: A Boca Raton businessman,
Frank Pesce, claims to have signed a deal with Moscow's Cristall
Distillery granting him "the exclusive right to sell Stolichnaya
Cristall into 'all territories' of the Western Hemisphere for the
next 50 years" -- but PepsiCo says it owns the North American
rights to all Stolichnaya vodkas and the Cristall trademark.
William Finkelstein, PepsiCo VP and intellectual property
attorney, says the company "will do 'everything necessary to
vigorously protect' those rights" (James McNair, MIAMI HERALD,
11/12).
