Starcom loses 25m Cadbury UK business to Phd

Cadbury UK has awarded PHD its £25m media planning and buying account. It has won the business following a competitive pitch against the incumbent Starcom.

Other agencies that were involved in the UK pitch earlier on in the process included Carat, The7Stars and Naked Communications.

It is believed the agencies were asked to pitch separately for the company’s Trident and Cadbury Dairy Milk brands and also for the Irish market. It is understood that a decision is yet to be made for the Irish market.

The decision follows agency appointments made across Southern and Central Europe, with the UK pitch forming part of a wider pan-European review of the company’s media agency arrangements (MW, May 8).

Starcom has managed to retain the business in Spain, while also winning it in France, Italy and Greece. In Central Europe, it is believed that Universal McCann is handling Romania, while Starcom will oversee Turkey.