Borders appoints B'lowfish as first retained agency

Borders UK, the book retailer, has appointed B’lowfish Advertising as its first retained advertising agency. It was appointed  after a five-way pitch against four undisclosed agencies.

B’lowfish is now reviewing all aspects of the company’s marketing, including its brand positioning, store marketing and community events.

Sarah Westwood, senior campaign manager at Borders, says the agency was appointed to bring consistency to the retailer’s branding and communications. The company has previously appointed agencies on a project-by-project basis but has retained B’lowfish until the end of the year.

The agency is now working on the second phase of Borders summer campaign and is also developing an autumn campaign, which will be based around “The ideal book, DVD and CD collection.”

The US bookstore group recently announced it was planning to sell off its international divisions, including its UK operations. The international arm represents 16% of group sales, of which 70% comes from the retailer’s 72 Borders and Books Etc stores in the UK and Ireland.