Homebase has five on pitch shortlist

by Media Week Media Week 22-Apr-08

Homebase is shifting the business model of its customer magazine Homebase Ideas from ad-funded to fee-based, as part of a review of the account.

The DIY provider is understood to have shortlisted five agencies for the account, with incumbent Publicis Blueprint thought to have repitched for the business.

It is unclear whether Blueprint has made the final shortlist from the pitch, which has been handled through the APA.

Homebase's decision to hold a pitch for its magazine and to change its funding model follows Publicis Blueprint's resignation of accounts following the discovery that some of its business was incurring an operating loss, estimated to total £6m (Media Week, February 19).

The losses led to parent firm Publicis imposing a change in strategy at its customer publisher arm, away from ad-funded to fee-based, the departure of chief executive Jason Frost, and the axing of around a third of its 110 workforce, plus the resignation of several titles.

Homebase Ideas circulation was 423,330 in the six months between July to December 2007, a year-on-year rise of 1.2%. Its main competitors include IPC's Ideal Homes and NatMags' House Beautiful. Homebase confirmed that it was holding a pitch for the business.