Loot starts agency trawl for £1m ad campaign

The Daily Mail & General Trust’s (DMGT) free classified ads newspaper Loot is seeking an agency to create a &£1m advertising campaign.

The search is being handled by agency selection company The Haystacks Group and Stephen Miron, managing director of Associated New Ventures, a division of DMGT. Miron joined Associated New Ventures after a spell as commercial director at Independent News & Media last year.

The newspaper has not actively advertised for some time, however WCRS was its last agency of record.

Loot was bought from directory company Scoot by DMGT last September for &£45m. The newspaper has not been advertised for the past two years, but DMGT is preparing to promote its recent acquisition with press, poster, radio, ambient media and taxi advertising.

The company is expected to increase its marketing investment over time, with the aim of attracting readers and of persuading current readers to buy the newspaper more regularly.

Loot publishes in London five days a week and has six regional editions, which publish between one and three times a week. The total circulation for July to December 2001 was 1.59 million (ABC). The newspaper makes its revenue from sales at &£1.40 a copy. It is also to be found online at www.loot.com.

Loot was founded in 1985 as a private venture. Scoot bought the Loot group in April 2000.