MindShare snatches £9m Express Newspapers brief

Express Newspapers has moved its &£9m media buying and planning account from OMD UK to MindShare, without a pitch.

The appointment was made by joint group managing director Stan Myerson. The publisher has been without a group marketing director since Roland Agambar returned to News International as marketing director for The Sun and the News of the World in October.

OMD UK has handled all Express Newspapers’ media business since May 2001, when the publisher consolidated its accounts. Previously, the business was shared between OMD, CIA and MediaCom.

MindShare resigned the buying account for the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs in January last year, following the decision to hive off planning to Naked Inside. Universal McCann now handles buying for the Telegraph Group.

Express Newspapers is awaiting a ruling from the Office of Fair Trading on distribution through the London Underground before it decides whether to launch a free afternoon newspaper in London.

Rival publisher Associated Newspapers launched Standard Lite, a free lunchtime edition of the Evening Standard, in December (MW December 16, 2004). Associated Newspapers already publishes free morning newspaper Metro, which is distributed on London Underground.

Northern & Shell, parent company of Express Newspapers, is readying its shopper magazine, called Happy, for an April launch backed by a &£10m spend. M2M is to handle media planning and buying. The magazine will carry content linked to the Express Shopping Channel.