Five starts review of £5m planning and buying task

Five is reviewing its &£5m media planning and buying account as it continues to play on its position as a challenger brand in the UK TV market.

Incumbent Walker Media is expected to repitch for the business. The agency has held the account since 2000 when it snatched the business without a pitch from Carat and Michaelides & Bednash, the two media agencies that helped to launch the channel six years ago.

The review is being handled by the AAR and overseen by Five marketing chief David Pullan, who has recently taken on additional responsibility for strategy and the new title of director of strategy and marketing.

When Pullan joined the channel last year he called an advertising review, appointing TBWA/London in place of Walsh Trott Chick Smith. Pullan has also overseen a revamp of the channel’s identity, rebranding it as Five and introducing a more grown-up and sophisticated on-air look. And last autumn he sanctioned a 12-month &£1.2m deal with Viacom Outdoor for London Underground posters, involving ten 48-sheets which would be held on a permanent basis.

The aim of the rebranding was to reflect the fact that the channel’s programming has moved on from its early days, when the focus was “football, films and fucking”.

It is not clear whether Five will continue with the new programming strategy, which was introduced by former director of programmes Kevin Lygo. He has since left to go to Channel 4.