Banc scoops £10m MyOyster task

Banc has been appointed to create a launch campaign worth more than &£10m for recently launched recruitment company MyOyster plc.

The agency has been working with MyOyster’s parent company, recruitment specialist Barkers Norman Broadbent, since the early stages of its development, on branding, advertising and corporate name and identity. It was appointed without a pitch.

Media will be handled by PHD Compass. Both briefs include a launch campaign for the online service MyOyster.com.

Annick Devillard, former European communications director at Dell Computers, has been made marketing director at MyOyster. She was previously at marketing consultancy Added Value Group and reports to chief executive Graham Durgan.

Devillard says &£4m will be spent on an initial business print advertising campaign before Christmas, with consumer work, including TV and poster ads, appearing from January. The whole campaign will be worth at least &£10m.

MyOyster will use a patented search engine, called Antenna, to match employers to potential recruits. MyOyster will also offer offline services, such as a call centre, alongside Barkers Norman Broadbent’s existing business.

Devillard says: “We have used years of experience to create an online headhunting service. We are entering the recruitment market at a time when it is buoyant, and we believe our technology is unique.”

Banc chairman Robert Bean adds: “MyOyster is one of the more intelligent and robust new companies. It’s a good example of what we do, from the initial brand positioning to the creation of an ad campaign.”