Toucan to rethink £3m ad business

Telecoms company Toucan is reviewing its estimated £3m advertising account held by BMB. The review is being overseen by marketing manager Miles Barry and comes at a time when the race to lure customers away from BT is intensifying.

The company spent less than £1m on advertising last year, but that figure was considerably higher this year after a multi-million pound summer advertising campaign to support the launch of its ToucanTalk All-You-Can offer.

The review will not affect Toucan’s media account, held by AMS Media Group, or its direct marketing activity, which is handled internally.

Managing director Joseph Blass says the decision to review is part of a housekeeping initiative. He says there is “no urgent issue” but adds it is the “prudent thing to do”.

Toucan, which was launched by parent company IDT, a US-based wholesale telecoms and international prepaid calling card operator, introduced the first call package priced under £10 a month in June.

Toucan, which advertises on television, in the national press and on the radio, pipped BT to first place in a national survey of telephone service support last month. BT achieved a 73.3 per cent satisfaction rating, based on a set of questions around the levels of customer support users got from their service provider. But Toucan achieved a 74.2 per cent score and was the only provider to be given a five-star rating in the survey by uSwitch.