Zenith loses 6m Staples media brief to Optimedia
Office supplies retailer Staples has switched its 6m media account from Zenith Media to Optimedia.
The agency won the account in a pitch against TMD Carat, the Media Business as well as Zenith, which had held the account for two years.
Staples media and advertising manager Nick Forster says: “We like to review our suppliers continually. We liked what Optimedia had to offer.”
The chain’s creative account, held by Bates Dorland, is also under review. Bates won the business from Leeds-based agency Creative Communications, only last year.
Staples has 41 superstores across the UK. Until 1996, the Kingfisher Group had a 50 per cent stake in the UK business. Then US-owned parent Staples announced it planned to acquire US rival Office Depot for 2.5bn. Kingfisher sold its stake back to Staples in the US for 23.5m in December 1996.
Staples operates 574 stores in the US and Canada, while Office Depot has 572 outlets in the US.
The bid for Office Depot was eventually ruled anti-competitive in 1997 by the Federal Trade Commission and the proposed merger was scrapped.
Last year, Staples tested TV in the UK and Forster says the company will use the medium again for its forthcoming campaign. Press ads will also be used.
