Geronimo beats three to win £6m Direct Line brief

Direct Line has handed its &£6m direct marketing account to Geronimo following a review of the business.

The agency, which previously worked with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) brand on a project basis, pitched against Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel, Archibald Ingall Stretton and Carlson Marketing to win the account.

The review was handled by Creative Brief and overseen by Direct Line’s director of marketing Mike Tildesley. Geronimo will work with M&C Saatchi and MediaCom to further develop the insurer’s “A Good Deal Better” concept.

The agency helped develop and then launch the strategy at the start of this year.

Direct Line, which is the country’s largest private motor insurer, called the direct marketing pitch at the start of June (MW June 1). In November last year, it handed the bulk of its &£35m creative business to M&C Saatchi, an RBS roster agency, a year after the account was won by Clemmow Hornby Inge (MW November 3).

RBS then consolidated its &£15m digital media planning and buying business for its insurance brands into MediaCom’s digital specialist Media.com last month. The account includes the Privilege, Churchill and Direct Line brands.

Direct Line was the first telephone-based insurance firm to be launched in the UK.