Merlin appoints MediaCom to £17.5m account

Merlin Entertainments, owner of leisure destination brands such as Madame Tussauds, Legoland and the London Eye, has consolidated its European media planning and buying account into MediaCom.

London Eye

The group has more than 40 attractions across Europe and 21 in the UK. It is also undertaking an aggressive growth strategy, particularly for its Madame Tussauds and Legoland Discovery Centres brands.

It is currently in final preparations to raise £2bn via an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.

MediaCom will handle planning and buying for all Merlin’s European attractions such as the London Eye; its five European theme parks including the Alton Towers Resort in the UK and Gardaland in Italy; three Legoland sites in the UK, Denmark and Germany; Sea Life attractions; Legoland Discovery Centres; Madame Tussauds and the Dungeons.

Meanwhile, the London Eye is being rebranded The Merlin Entertainments London Eye, in a move aimed at underlining Merlin’s ownership of the attraction

The new branding is being backed with what will be London Eye’s first television ad campaign.

MediaCom offices in UK, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and Portugal all participated in the four-month long pitch process, overseen by the media auditor Billetts. The agency pitched against Starcom, UM, Carat, OMD and Mediaplus.

The group had previously worked with a number of agencies across its various businesses in Europe.

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