PowerGen hands 10m media brief to Western

PowerGen has awarded its 10m media buying and planning account to Western International Media.

The review was prompted by the power giant’s 1.9bn takeover of East Midlands Electricity (EME) last July.

Western beat Saatchi & Saatchi and Zenith, which previously handled PowerGen media; and Booth Lockett Makin, which held the EME account. The pitch was managed by media consultancy Bridgeworks.

PowerGen’s creative account is held by Saatchi, which took over the EME creative business from Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe in March.

PowerGen is axing the EME brand name, following the takeover. Western will handle media for the name change, which is being initiated in the Midlands, and then rolled out as part of a nationwide branding campaign.

The company acquired EME’s 2.3 million customers and subsidiary Sterling Gas as part of the deal.

PowerGen is aiming to use its single brand name to exploit deregulation of the power market and sell its services nationwide. But some observers believe it is entering the market too late (MW March 25).

PowerGen is Western’s second big win in the past four weeks. Last month, the agency won the 10m media brief for travel company

Airtours.