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BBH will maintain global responsibility for Diageo’s Johnnie Walker brand. This marks the second time BBH has lost a Diageo account to JWT—in 2006, it saw the Smirnoff Ice shift to JWT. With 7 million cases sold in 2006, Baileys is the world’s top-selling liqueur. In the U.S. it has posted steady growth since crossing the 1-million-case mark in 2001. *

Global spending on the brand was slightly more than $40 million in 2007, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus and Nielsen Global AdView. In the U.S. alone last year, major media spending approached $15 million, according to Nielsen. That figure does not include online ads.

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The creative shift comes five years after JWT here lost Baileys to BBH in London. Other contenders for the business included Publicis Groupe units Leo Burnett and Fallon, but the latter was eliminated in an earlier round, according to sources.

WPP Group's JWT, which is expected to lead the business out of London, referred calls to the client, which could not immediately be reached. Other Diageo brands handled by JWT include Smirnoff, Smirnoff Ice, Smirnoff Twisted V and Smirnoff Raw Tea.

Publicis Groupe-backed BBH retains creative duties on Diageo's Johnnie Walker.

Sources: “Diageo Moves Baileys Ad Account To JWT,” Paula Pou, Wine Spectator; “JWT Reclaims Global Creative on Baileys,” Andrew McMains, AdWeek, April 6, 2008