Ley abandons plans to set up own advertising agency

BSkyB’s former marketing director Philip Ley has abandoned plans to set up his own advertising agency.

The satellite channel, which is dropping its No Turning Back slogan, has now appointed The Design Clinic.

The company says the agency, which Ley hired on an ad hoc basis last year, has been retained full-time because of its ability to turnaround campaigns quickly.

Ley is understood to have another venture planned instead. He set up his agency in April to handle the BSkyB account and look for new business, and has advised the satellite channel on its latest 22m advertising campaign, which launches at the beginning of September.

In the new campaign, BSkyB no longer uses the No Turning Back slogan, which it has had since Ley was appointed from Sega in 1994. It is now emphasising that the service is “first” with movies, sport and innovative scheduling. It has also tweaked its Sky logo.

The campaign will concentrate on different themes each month, with the September campaign emphasising sport and movies, while October’s burst will focus on the 11 new channels the broadcaster is launching.

“We have been very successful at communicating our events month by month,” says Jim Hytner, BSkyB’s marketing director. “The ‘first’ theme is meant to act as an umbrella theme while we communicate monthly events.”

Hytner is not looking for another agency.

BSkyB parted company with Bartle Bogle Hegarty last summer and appointed Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters for a three-month contract.