_6.jpg)
New Business Rankings
New Commercial Arts and Initiative have topped Campaign's latest new business rankings – see the full tables here.
Reviews
The Film and TV Charity is seeking an agency partner to deliver a behaviour change campaign, as part of its work to tackle the mental health crisis in the film, TV and cinema industries. The charity has embarked on a two-year Whole Picture Programme as part of a 10-year vision for industry change, which has been co-created and funded with industry stakeholders.
The campaign will launch in late summer, with an indicative budget of £150,000. More information and a pre-qualifying questionnaire are available on this web page. The deadline for expressions of interest is Friday 7 May.
Ongoing
The final workshops in the Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays creative review, which is being assisted by Creativebrief, are scheduled for mid-May. Lucky Generals, Mother and Uncommon Creative Studio are in contention. A result could come not long after this; as long as it’s after 17 May, the winning agency will be able to celebrate with a 30-strong blowout for the first time since last summer (outdoors only, please).
There is still no result on the Post Office’s long-running media review, according to sources close to the process. Having first delayed a result on 31 March so that a company secretary could “ratify the decision”, the UK’s postal service subsequently sent out a note that “internal legal issues” would hold up its decision until next week at the earliest.
Carat (the planning incumbent), MediaCom and Wavemaker are continuing to wait by their letterboxes, after the review was first called a year ago. Manning Gottlieb OMD handles the buying.
The two final contenders in the Asda pitch, Leo Burnett and Havas London, were trying to distract themselves as Pitch Update went to press as they had been told to expect a result by the end of the month (ie. Friday 30 April).
While speculation is swirling about where the winner might take the supermarket’s advertising, one source says the account change won’t bode well for Sonny, the bumbling dad who has starred in Asda’s recent ads by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. Sonny, we hardly knew you.
Wins
Motorway, the used car marketplace, has appointed Wonderhood Studios as its first retained advertising agency. Wonderhood won the pitch, which was handled by AAR, against Dentsumcgarrybowen, VCCP and Mother’s spin-off shop Other.
The agency begins work immediately with the brief of creating a long-term brand strategy and creative platform. The appointment follows Motorway’s hire earlier this year of Lloyd Page as its first chief marketing officer.
Food brand Merchant Gourmet has hired Uncommon Creative Studio on a project basis following a competitive pitch. The company has tasked Uncommon with cooking up a new campaign, spanning out-of-home, print and product development, to launch next month.
The work will aim to shift the plant-based food brand's image and promote eating more consciously with the planet in mind.
Harbour Collective has been tasked with creating awareness for the suicide bereavement charity, Suicide & Co. It was set up by Amelia Wrighton and Emma Morrisroe last year as a direct result of their own personal experiences to give a voice and support to those who have lost someone to suicide. Harbour was appointed without a pitch and there is no incumbent.
With the home workout market on the rise, Apex Rides has shifted gears to appoint Atomic London as its creative agency of record following a competitive pitch. The agency is tasked with developing a long-term brand platform that showcases the emotional benefits of exercise. Apex previously worked with Underexposed.
Will Sowerby, chief marketing officer at Apex Rides, said: “We plan to bring a more inclusive and joyful approach to the category, grounding our brand in why people actually exercise – to give their body a workout and mind a time-out.”
E.ON has switched its performance media to Digitas UK, following a competitive pitch. The Publicis Groupe digital agency will support the utilities brand’s energy supply, heating, solar and battery products alongside sister shop Starcom, which was appointed to handle E.ON’s media planning and buying in October last year. iProspect and Atom were the incumbents.
Love is in the air as recycling platform Reward4waste has appointed Love or Fear to handle creative for the brand, without a competitive pitch. The brand, which uses blockchain and AI technology to reward people for recycling, launched publicly last year with support from Britvic, PepsiCo and Encirc, which works to improve the carbon footprint of companies in the beverage industry. Love or Fear has been tasked with handling the brand’s positioning, with campaigns expected to roll out later this year.
Car rental company Enterprise Holdings has given media agency UM the keys to its global account across brands including Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car as it braces for an “exciting period of growth”.
Chris Almeida, vice-president of global marketing and digital at Enterprise Holdings, said: “We are confident that UM’s unique approach to partnership and media strategy will help drive our expansion in key global markets.”
