Pricerunner seeks agency for £3m launch campaign

Online and WAP (wireless application protocol) price comparison service Pricerunner.com is seeking an agency to handle the &£3m above-the-line account for the launch of its UK site.

The Swedish company is poised to roll out its service in the UK next month and is looking for creative and media agencies for a campaign to back the launch.

The company is drawing up shortlists. The AAR is not believed to be involved in the process.

Pricerunner claims it has a &£4m budget to spend on UK marketing in its first six months. The launch campaign will include on- and offline advertising, featuring print and poster work, with TV ads likely to appear before Christmas.

Pricerunner is also hoping to appoint a UK marketing director, who will report to UK managing director Jamal Hirana.

Consumers can contact Pricerunner through a text-messaging system as well as the Internet when comparing prices in high-street stores.

A spokeswoman says: “A customer could be looking at CD players in Dixons, for example, and Pricerunner.com will return a message through the WAP service comparing the price with other high-street retailers.”

Pricerunner is also launching services in France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, and eventually hopes to integrate pricing services across the continent.