Sky up for grabs as it cancels I-Level deal

The broadcasting giant terminated its relationship with the agency last week – more than six months before the contract between the two was due to end - although I-Level claims it was the party that cancelled the agreement. Sky has approached a shortlist of agencies to take on one of the biggest online accounts in the UK and is due to meet WPP’s MediaCom and Aegis agency Diffiniti this week.
Industry sources said Sky no longer wants to focus its online marketing so much on its TV offering – preferring instead to campaign as a multimedia company, from TV to online to mobile.
Sky has spent the past two years making content available on different platforms, such as mobile, and believes it needs a change of agency to demonstrate this.
The News Corporation-controlled company’s digital media spend is thought to have spiralled to over £25m since it employed I-Level to handle digital display and search in 2005, making it one of the biggest accounts held by the agency.
In August, however, Sky took its search account out of I-Level – and the digital industry has been rife with rumour about the future of the display account ever since.
In an unexpected move, and after an elongated pitch process lasting several months, Sky chose to split its search account along the lines of natural and paid search. The broadcaster finally handed its paid search account to Unique Digital and its search engine optimisation to Aegis agency Diffiniti.
Media Week understands that Sky will appoint one agency only to its display account and may consolidate its online display spend into an existing roster agency.
Sources said that Diffiniti and MediaCom topped Sky’s list, given that the broadcaster already works with MediaCom on offline promotion and Diffiniti on natural search.
Sky declined to comment when contacted by Media Week