20m iShares brief goes to Leo Burnett

The Leo Burnett Group has won the pan-European advertising business for Barclays

Global Investors’ (BGI) flagship iShares product. The account is believed to be

worth up to £20m.

Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide won the business, which is thought to include advertising and direct marketing, after a final pitch against Ogilvy Group UK.

Incumbent agency Personal did not repitch for the business although it is understood that a number of undisclosed agencies were involved at an earlier stage.

BGI called the review, which was handled by The Haystack Group, earlier this year ahead of a push to strengthen its business in key markets such as the UK,

France and Germany (MW August 31). It is thought to be increasing its marketing spend from £12m to £20m to support the expansion.

The decision to hold a pitch in the UK followed the appointment of Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) to handle BGI’s account in the US.

Ogilvy Group UK gained a place on the Barclays roster in the summer when its Dialogue Marketing Group was appointed to handle the bank’s Wealth Management unit (MW June 1). The account has just been moved into Ogilvy’s new conflict agency Mather Communications.

The Wealth Management unit forms part of the Barclays Capital division, which is also headed by BGI chairman Bob Diamond. BGI claims to be the world’s largest fund manager.