Itraffic resigns Hilton International over budget conflicts

by Jennifer Whitehead,, Brand Republic 24-Jun-04, 08:00

LONDON - Itraffic has resigned the Hilton International global interactive marketing account after just over one year because of conflict over the resources the hotel chain is investing in the medium.

Itraffic was appointed to the work in July last year after a competitive pitch. At the time, Hilton International said that it planned to shift 20% of its business online by 2007.

Since April last year, Itraffic has run pan-European and local interactive marketing campaigns in countries including the UK, Germany and Japan. It was appointed to the work on a full-service basis, creating advertising campaigns as well as planning the media.

However, the agency said this week that it had resigned the Hilton account and would be focusing on other clients such as British Airways, Wanadoo and Cahoot.

In a statement, it said: "We have a great deal of respect for both the Hilton business and all of the people we encountered during our relationship with it.

"However, Hilton International's commitment to interactive marketing is less than that of a number of our other clients with whom we typically have retainer-based relationships and we feel the time is right for it to identify a smaller agency who would be better placed to meet its needs."

Hilton International declined to comment on the story at this time.

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