SHS Drinks appoints agency to ‘reinvent’ WKD

In an effort to “reinvent” WKD in the on-trade, SHS Drinks has appointed Life Agency to make “brave choices” and drive the ready-to-drink brand forward.

SHS Drinks has appointed a brand agency as it seeks to “reinvent the brand in the on-trade

Life Agency was selected to handle the brand’s on-trade activity following a competitive pitch, and will now work closely with incumbent creative and media agencies Bray Leino and Mediacom.

The organisation’s initial remit will be to support WKD’s new ‘For the Now’ positioning within the on-trade as the brand seeks to become more relevant to its core 18-24-year-old target audience.

Part of its work will be to ensure the brand’s social media channels reflect the ‘For the Now’ message’.

Ewan Martin, SHS senior shopper marketing manager, said: “Life Agency is a great addition to our agency roster. They were able to apply their vast on-trade knowledge to the challenges we face in reinventing the WKD brand to create a great plan that we can’t wait to take to trade.”

Life Agency group account director, Chris Walker, added: “We’re delighted to have been awarded the chance to help reinvent WKD.

“The brand is at a point where some exciting and brave choices need to be made and we’re thrilled to be asked to be part of that process.”

In 2014, UK regulatory body the Advertising Standards Authority banned a number of “irresponsible” WKD Facebook advertisements which it claimed were “likely to be interpreted as suggesting that alcohol could enhance confidence and was also capable of changing mood and behaviour”.