Mediastar wins 4m Apricot brief

Mediastar has won the 4m media buying and planning for Mitsubishi Electronics’ Apricot range of PCs.

The business was won after a pitch against YMG Carat and Manning Gottlieb Media. The incumbent was PC market specialist Banner.

Creative work, handled by Da Costa & Company, is unaffected.

The company aims to move into the top ten of PC manufacturers, and wants to move out of the PC press and into mainstream media. The account moves on September 1 and a major campaign is planned for the autumn.

Mediastar is understood to have used its current computing clients, Microsoft and Intel, to prove its credentials in the computer market. The agency has also hinted at possible co-operative advertising involving the three advertisers sometime in the future.

Market analysts believe Mitsubishi’s Apricot brand is at a crossroads. Retailing to the home market now accounts for 40 per cent of its sales, but it is attempting to maintain a share of the corporate market.