Starcom wins 5m media account for AN websites

Associated Newspapers has handed Starcom the 5m media planning and buying brief for its FindaProperty.com and Loopylove.com websites. The decision follows a competitive pitch against undisclosed agencies.

Findaproperty.comAssociated Newspapers has handed Starcom the £5m media planning and buying brief for its FindaProperty.com and Loopylove.com websites. The decision follows a competitive pitch against undisclosed agencies.

The agency, which already handles a majority of the group’s media planning and buying, will also handle the TV planning and buying for FindaProperty.com, and the offline media for dating site Loopylove.com.

FindaProperty.com has previously worked with Rathbone Media.

Associated parent company Daily Mail and General Trust has been building its presence on the web over recent years in a bid to take a bigger share of the online advertising market. It bought FindaProperty.com in 2004 and acquired Fastcorp, which also runs several property websites, a year later.

In 2006, it is understood to have paid £46.5m for five dating websites, including Loopylove.com and GirlsDateForFree.com, and later that year took a 62.5% stake in the motoring classified website Carsource.co.uk.

It owns the consumer website Simplyswitch, which it also bought in 2006. The website allows customers to compare rates for utilities, credit cards, telephone and broadband services and then switch to the cheapest or more suitable provider.

MediaVest, now part of Starcom Group, won the Associated media account in 1997. It handles the planning and buying across the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard and Metro newspapers.

Recommended

Biggins quits DLKW Dialogue to join Momentum

Marketing Week

Momentum, the integrated agency, has appointed DLKW Dialogue chief Paul Biggins to the new role of London chief executive. Biggins, who is also a former chief executive of Tequila London, joins Momentum after three-and-a-half years with DLKW Dialogue, Delaney Lund Knox Warren’s below-the-line arm. Biggins has been brought in to build Momentum London into one […]

TUI repositions First Choice and Thomson away from package holidays

Marketing Week

TUI, the travel company, is repositioning its First Choice and Thomson holiday brands in a bid to target different segments of the travel market. The plans aim to shift the company away from selling “commodity” packaged holidays. The First Choice brand will become a more family-oriented brand while Thomson will target older, more affluent consumers. […]

Rough ride for PepsiCo smoothies

Marketing Week

PepsiCos decision to slash the price of its PJ Smoothies brand and reduce its product range may well prompt a lift in sales but critics argue that repeated revamps have confused consumers and resulted in PJs losing its mojo.