BMP scoops 3m Guardian Direct account

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Guardian Direct, the telephone sales operation of insurer Guardian Royal Exchange, has handed its 3.25m advertising account to BMP DDB – ending a review delayed by a series of senior GRE management changes.

BMP fought off competition from WCRS, Delaney Fletcher Bozell and, incumbent of more than ten years, CDP.

Chris Chadwick, the former director of strategic business at PPP Healthcare, who was recently appointed as managing director of Guardian Direct (MW June 4), says: “We have asked BMP to develop a new campaign and to work with us on our longer-term strategy for the company and brand.”

The 3.25m account focuses mainly on Guardian Direct but will also include branding work for the umbrella brand of GRE, which includes Guardian Insurance, Guardian Financial Services and Guardian Health. Guardian Health is in the process of merging with PPP.

BMP will have a tough job on its hands – Guardian Direct suffered underwriting losses of 66m for private motor insurance in the year ending December 31 1997. It faces tough competition from over-the-phone insurers such as Direct Line and Churchill.

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