Cogent scoops 12m Fujitsu

Fujitsu Computers has appointed Cogent to handle its 12m pan-European creative advertising account.

The West Midlands agency teamed up with World Writers, a company that provides creative and account management resources for international work, to pitch against six agencies from the UK, Germany and France, including incumbent agency Cappuccino of Sweden.

Fujitsu Computers, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujitsu, is seeking to build brand awareness across Europe.

UK media buying is expected to remain with Carat and BJK&E Media.

Fujitsu Computers European marketing communications manager Karen Hiscock says: “We were looking for an idea which was big enough to be independent of any medium and any culture.

“Cogent and World Writers seemed to have the most intuitive ‘feel’ for our brand, and also proposed a practical way of handling what is obviously a complex piece of business across Europe.”

Fujitsu Computers is testing alternative retail channels, notably Tesco in the UK. A pilot scheme to sell PCs at Tesco’s New Malden store (MW July 9) has been extended to five other branches.