Strawberry Frog tapped for Frito-Lay True North launch

NEW YORK Frito-Lay on Tuesday tapped independent New York agency Strawberry Frog to serve as creative agency of record for its upcoming True North line of healthy snacks.

A spokeswoman for the Plano, Texas-based Frito-Lay confirmed the agency will handle creative duties for the new nut-based snack line, which is expected to launch nationally in second quarter 2008.

Frito-Lay is reaching beyond parent PepsiCo’s advertising holding company of choice, Omnicom Group, by taking on Strawberry Frog, but both Omnicom and Frito-Lay said Strawberry Frog’s entry onto the PepsiCo roster has no bearing on the long-standing holding-company/marketer relationship.

“Nothing about this that is violation of our relationship with PepsiCo,” an Omnicom spokeswoman said. A Frito-Lay spokeswoman said: “PepsiCo continues to work with the Omnicom family of agencies, which provide the company with a great pool of talent.”