Ebay appoints PHD Media to £3m media planning account

Online auction site Ebay has handed its £3m media planning and buying account to PHD Media, after a four-way pitch involving Starcom Motive, Mediaedge:CIA and the incumbent MediaCom. The move comes as Ebay ramps up for its first above-the-line

Online auction site Ebay has handed its &£3m media planning and buying account to PHD Media, after a four-way pitch involving Starcom Motive, Mediaedge:CIA and the incumbent MediaCom. The move comes as Ebay ramps up for its first above-the-line advertising campaign.

Two months ago, Ebay appointed Delaney Lund Knox Warren (DLKW) as its first above-the-line UK creative agency. DLKW beat Joshua, Ogilvy & Mather and DFGW in a competitive pitch (MW March 25).

Both reviews were overseen by Simon Darling, who is UK marketing director for Ebay. Darling was previously head of interactive marketing for Unilever. In addition to putting the accounts up for review, Darling also appointed Iain Hildreth, formerly head of brand experience at Barclays, as Ebay’s UK head of brand and offline marketing.

PHD and DLKW will be working on a major above-the-line brand marketing campaign, which is due to break this year. While last year’s UK advertising budget was &£3m, this was spent solely on online activity, and it is understood that Ebay’s ad spend over the next 12 months will be significantly higher, reflecting the switch to above-the-line.

Ebay was established in September 1998 and now claims to have more than 62 million registered users around the world, 6.8 million of whom are in the UK. The company has used above-the-line advertising in the US and Germany.

Recommended

Bartle Bogle Hegarty creates Audi campaign

Marketing Week

Bartle Bogle Hegarty has created a television campaign for Audi’s new A6 saloon using illusions in the style of Dutch artist, Escher. It will be supported by press ads with cars made out of its ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ slogan.

Ex-Ford man takes helm at Alfa Romeo

Marketing Week

Alfa Romeo has appointed Andrew Lester, a former Ford marketer, as its UK managing director. He replaces Glyn Owen, who is leaving the company. The appointment follows a management reshuffle in March, which saw Alfa Romeo move its UK sales director Jeff Culkin to UK marketing director and Mario di Maria brought over from Italy […]

Starbucks marketing chief defects to Pizza Express

Marketing Week

Pizza Express has appointed Helen Benedict to the new role of commercial marketing director. She joins the pizza chain from Starbucks, where she was vice-president of marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Benedict will oversee the marketing for the chain’s 340 restaurants, which was taken over by private equity firms TDR and Capricorn […]