Optimedia gains £100m H-P task
Computer giant Hewlett-Packard is shifting its global media account, worth between $150m and $200m (£100m-£140m), from Zenith Media to sister Publicis shop Optimedia.
The decision follows Publicis’ acquisition of Saatchi & Saatchi. The two creative agencies and client agreed media buying and planning should be moved into one agency. Zenith was co-owned by Saatchi.
The business is worth £17m to Optimedia in the UK. The account will be handled by a team made up of executives from both agencies.
In the UK Optimedia already handled media planning for Hewlett-Packard’s business PC unit. Creative work for HP worldwide is handled by Saatchi.
Hewlett-Packard UK marketing director Borel Setten says: “Optimedia was the bigger agency of the two and the decision was made to pool media into one organisation.
“People from Optimedia and Zenith have been put together to work on the UK media account.”
Setten, previously Hewlett-Packard’s marketing manager for handheld and laptop computers, recently replaced Becky Carroll, who has returned to the US (MW September 5).
Setten is now responsible for marketing all of Hewlett-Packard’s products, from printers to servers, to businesses.
Hewlett-Packard has placed its products under a new umbrella brand, HP Invent, in a bid to raise the profile of its Internet services among consumers and businesses.
