Hewlett-Packard awards Publicis 27m pan-European PC account

Hewlett-Packard has awarded its estimated 27m pan-European personal computer account to Publicis after a four-way pitch with incumbent Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann-Erickson and D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.

Saatchi has held onto the printer business, but the loss of the PC account represents a 40 per cent cut in the total value of its H-P account.

The Publicis win includes media buying and planning, awarded to its Optimedia arm, which means Saatchi’s media arm, Zenith, has lost 20m worth of business across Europe.

The European reshuffle is part of a worldwide review of H-P’s global account, which is estimated to be worth about 100m. Saatchi has the most to lose from the review – it had been H-P’s lead agency since 1988.

The European review took place quickly. Agencies were approached by the manufacturer in February and given about three weeks to prepare for the pitch.

Jos Brenkel, European marketing manager for H-P’s personal information products group, says: “Our business has grown at an astounding rate over the past two years and we want to ensure as we go forward that we have the best resources available.”