Pitch Update: British Gas, Barclaycard, Virgin Media O2, Sofology and more

Reviews

Virgin Media O2 is reviewing its media planning and buying account, following the merger of the two telecoms companies in 2020. The review comes after the appointment of VCCP to the consolidated Virgin Media O2 creative account, following a competitive pitch against Adam & Eve/DDB. 

Havas Media and Manning Gottlieb OMD are the incumbents. Havas Media has managed the media planning and buying for O2 since 2015 and MG OMD has held the media account for Virgin Media since 2008. Campaign understands that the telecoms business has phoned up both incumbents to invite them to repitch, with Liberty Global running the review.

The Open University has launched a review of its media planning and buying account. The incumbent, Havas Media, was awarded the £16m account in 2019 following a competitive pitch. Havas London, Havas Media and Havas Helia pitched together, succeeding MediaCom, Lida and Rapp. The tender launched on 12 April, with a closing date of 13 May for questionnaire responses.

Ongoing 

Things are warming up for the British Gas creative review as the client has scheduled chemistry meetings for next week, with a view to finishing the pitch process by the end of May. Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, Karmarama, Mother and incumbent The & Partnership are thought to be among those involved. Bartle Bogle Hegarty is believed to have had some contact with British Gas but is not taking part in the pitch. 

Pukka Pies is looking to give a slice of business to a UK social media agency. The Leicestershire-based brand has not previously worked with a social media agency but is now at the early stages of finding an agency to specifically build its social media presence.

The process is being handled by Creativebrief, which will work alongside Pukka’s head of marketing and innovation, Rachel Cranston.

A spokesperson for Pukka Pies said: “Pukka work with Walker Media (creative agency), Richmond & Towers (PR agency) and PhD (media agency) and they now see social media as a channel of untapped opportunity through which to further build the brand – reiterating their ‘People’s Pie’ positioning, further extending their food quality credentials and giving their customers more reasons to smile daily.

“The process that Pukka has set out, to reach agency appointments, will aim to be forward-thinking and mindful of resource for all parties throughout. Pukka has designed an approach alongside Creativebrief that will be based around chemistry, culture, capability, ways of working and strategic exploration.”

The Brooklyn Brothers and The & Partnership have pitched for a TV brief with delivery service Zapp UK.

Wins

Ask Italian plans to cook up something special with John Doe Group as it becomes the retained communications agency for the restaurant chain. John Doe Group will lead on its communications strategy, including PR, social media and experiential activity. Ask Italian has invested in adapting its proposition to the post-pandemic world and is currently planning for a suite of creative activations to bring it to life over the coming months.

The Corner London is getting cosy with Sofology after being appointed as its creative agency following a competitive pitch that kicked off in January. Creative for the furniture retailer was previously handled by the7stars’ in-house creative shop, Supernova. However, Supernova did not take part in this pitch process.

Publicis Groupe is picking up the phone to UAE telco provider e& after winning its creative account following a competitive pitch process. The brand formerly known as Etisalat Group has plans to transform from a giant telecoms company with digital capabilities into a global technology and investment conglomerate.

Barclaycard has transferred its consumer ad account to Bartle Bogle Hegarty. It was previously handled by Droga5 London and the Accenture Interactive-owned company continues to work on the Barclaycard Business account.

BBH has worked on parent company Barclays Bank's creative account for about 20 years. In 2019 it retained the business after a pitch process that involved Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, Mother and Publicis London, and was run by AAR. 

Miroma Group has been chosen by charity Asthma + Lung UK, created following the merger of Asthma UK and The British Lung Foundation, to launch its first brand communications after a competitive pitch. The brand campaign, which will include press, digital, out of home and radio, is set to launch in May 2022. Media planning and buying will be handled by Miroma’s media agency Wake The Bear, which is Asthma + Lung UK’s agency of record. 

Noise has won the UK social media account for smart baby monitor provider Nanit. The social-first media agency will be developing and building the UK social accounts for Nanit as well as handling its UK influencer programme, focusing primarily on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, before expanding into other platforms including Twitter and Pinterest.

US tech company SparkCognition has appointed digital agency 93x, based in London, to drive its international PPC and SEO after a competitive pitch process.