LONDON--Diageo has handed Western European PR duties for liqueur brand Baileys to UK consumer firm Unity, as it attempts to address flagging sales in the region.

Unity takes over from Ketchum, following a competitive review. It is understood that Ketchum stepped down from the business because of a client conflict.

The appointment follows the launch of Baileys' global 'Cream with Spirit' campaign, developed by ad agency BBH, which aims to 'celebrate modern womanhood.' The assignment covers the UK, Nordics, Italy and Germany.

"Working closely with Baileys' other media agencies, Unity will be focused on dialling up relevance and meaning for the brand amongst its target female audience," said a Diageo spokesperson.

The new campaign marks a major repositioning by Diageo to address Baileys' flagging sales in Western Europe, by adopting a more youthful tone. Results for Diageo's most recent fiscal year to the end of June 2012 revealed a nine percent volume sales drop for Baileys in Europe.

At the time, Diageo Europe president Andrew Morgan said that the "weaker Baileys performance was driven by the change in promotional strategy in Great Britain and the challenges in Southern Europe."

The UK is Baileys largest market and it remains the world's highest-selling liqueur brand. 

The win marks Unity's first business with Diageo and its second multimarket assignment, after securing lead agency duties for Unilever's Ben & Jerry's across Europe.