TK Maxx hires BLM for regional media plans

Discount fashion chain TK Maxx has appointed BLM Clilverd, a Bristol-based media agency, to handle its multi-million pound regional planning and buying business.

Starcom will continue to handle the national planning and buying for the store chain, which has 201 outlets in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

TK Maxx head of marketing Katherine Rose says: “Given our diverse store base and our broad customer base, it is incredibly important for us to deliver unique and locally tailored media activity.” Rose would not disclose the company’s marketing budget, but does say that above-the-line spend for the current year will be double last year’s. It is estimated that TK Maxx spent &£3m on above-the-line advertising last year.

The retailer is currently on British TV with a national campaign using the tagline “Big Labels, Small Prices”. Creative work has been developed by DFGW on a project basis in tandem with TK Maxx’s in-house marketing team. DFGW won the business in January (MW January 12) after a four-way pitch, handled by intermediary Creative Brief, against Quiet Storm, Doner Cardwell Hawkins and Karmarama.

Rose says that there are no plans to appoint a creative agency of record. “We have a full in-house team which produces excellent work,” she says. It has just appointed Golley Slater Direct as its direct marketing agency of record. In the UK, TK Maxx saw sales for the first six months of 2005 grow 19% from &£297m to &£356m, with profits up 13% from &£5.6m to &£6.3m.