Y&R lands London Drugs

London Drugs of Richmond, b.c. has chosen the Vancouver office of Young & Rubicam after a four-month search, its first in 10 years.

Incumbent Equity Communications of Vancouver pulled out part way through the review and announced its plans to close at the end of the year after fulfilling its commitment to the client.

Also on the short-list were Scali McCabe Sloves, McKim Baker Lovick/BBDO, Ogilvy & Mather and McCann-Erickson Advertising, all of Vancouver, and Townsend & O’Leary of Los Angeles.

London Drugs is estimated to spend more than $4 million on newspaper and broadcast media, and, in addition, puts out 26 flyers a year, totalling more than 60 million copies.

It has its own in-house production and photography studio which handles flyer and print production from computer to press.

London Drugs has 42 corporate-owned stores in b.c. and Alberta with an average size of 24,000 square feet, each stocking more than 33,000 skus.

While the pharmacy is London Drug’s core business, it also has 48 photo labs and sells high-end photography equipment and computers in some of its stores.

Communique gets Budget Toronto

the communique Group of Toronto has been awarded the assignment for Budget Car Rentals Toronto, Budget Rent A Car Canada’s largest franchise holder and operator of 45 locations in Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe area in the southwestern part of the province.

Budget’s national agency, Young & Rubicam, which had previously handled the business, was also involved in the review.

Ray McCarron, president of Budget Toronto, says competition in the industry is fierce and the regional company felt it needed a smaller agency with strong creative direction to better compete.

Communique has launched its first campaign for Budget, the No Strings Weekend Rate, which at $29.95 is meant to counter Tilden’s $36 seat sale.

Ontario government awards

freeman Rodgers Battaglia of Toronto has won the Ontario Ministry of Transportation business for a three-year term.

The assignment includes development of public education and safety programs.

The short-list included Toronto agencies HindsBrian Associates, Axmith McIntyre Wicht, Manifest Communications and Marbury Advertising.

The St. Lawrence Parks Commission has awarded its $250,000 a year advertising account to Mediaplus Advertising of Ottawa for a three-year term.

On the shortlist were Acart Communications and Hewson Bridge & Smith of Ottawa, Howes Stokes Patterson of Kingston, and Kaufman Advertising of Toronto.

Anderson appointed by HFC

household Financial of Toronto has chosen Anderson Advertising of Toronto, part of the DDB Needham Group, to help it re-establish its image in Canada.

Marsha Copp, hfc vice-president of marketing, says the company has not done any image advertising for about 12 years, with activities limited to some local advertising and direct marketing.

Copp expects the company’s advertising budget to remain at about $2.5 million to $3 million next year, but to increase in subsequent years.

Strategic planning is now under way and Copp says the rest of 1993 and part of the new year will be the developmental phase of rebuilding the company’s Canadian image.

hfc has been operating in Canada for more than 60 years, and today provides mortgages, line of credit accounts, revolving credit cards, rrsps, daily growth account, T-Bill savings and term deposits.

hfc is owned by Household International of Prospect Heights, Ill.

Burnett tees up RCGA

leo Burnett of Toronto will be handling advertising for the 1994 Bell Canadian Open golf tournament.

The Canadian Open, the only PGA Tour event held outside the u.s., was renamed recently when the Royal Canadian Golf Association signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Bell Canada.

White Spot adds to its team

White Spot Restaurants of Vancouver has completed the review of its $3 million advertising account started this past summer.

The company which operates a chain of 39 restaurants has retained VRH Communications of Vancouver as its agency of record and has also added Glennie Stamnes Advertising of Vancouver to the team to handle special advertising and marketing programs.