£25m BBC brief stays with PHD

The BBC has reappointed PHD Media to its &£25m media planning and buying account after a six-way pitch.

In the final stage of the pitch, the agency beat Zenith Media and Optimedia for the five-year contract. Each was asked to respond to a strategic brief, a planning and buying brief, and to take part in a workshop.

Initiative, Mediaedge:CIA and MindShare also took part in the pitch, but were eliminated at an earlier stage.

BBC head of marketing planning David Grint, who oversaw the pitch, says: “It was a really close call at the end of the day. The BBC was one of PHD’s founding clients and it showed in the work we got back from them. Part of their strategy was to refresh themselves and as a result they have put a new team on the business and devised a new way of working with us.”

PHD will continue to handle planning and buying for press, outdoor and ambient media, as well as any advertising the BBC may do on commercial TV channels. Planning of promotions on its own airtime and online media is conducted in house.

The bulk of BBC media spend – up to 80 per cent – is tied up in a year-long poster deal negotiated in March (MW March 14). The deal gives the BBC &£20m of exposure on permanent poster sites around the country, enabling the broadcaster to place one campaign after another without a break.