Starcom grabs DM media task

Starcom Motive has snatched the UK media planning and buying task for cult shoe brand Dr Martens from Manning Gottlieb Media without a pitch.

The move is part of a global realignment by parent company Air Wair, which is expected to see £6 million in business for Dr Martens brands and retail outlets in Europe and the US move from the OMD to Starcom networks.

Starcom Motive has been acting in an unofficial consultancy role to the company since Mustoe Merriman Herring Levy was appointed to handle the company’s global advertising account, previously held by TBWA, last November.

Planning will be handled centrally in London under Starcom Motive International’s regional business director Peter Colvin. Buying tasks will be assigned on a market-by-market basis. Expenditure is likely to be concentrated in the UK, US and France.

Colvin said the agency was excited to be working with such an “iconic” brand. “The win helps endorse our reputation for developing innovative, centrally-driven, multimarket media strategies which are then effectively delivered locally,” Colvin said.

Frank Duffy, Air Wair’s group managing director, said the agency was chosen because it was well positioned to develop solutions in the brand’s key markets. “Starcom Motive’s strategic planning will ensure our media use remains ‘on brand’ while allowing us to further enhance new, underground and guerrilla options,” he said.

Dr Martens has attempted to move beyond its celebrated association with the Punk and Goth movements by launching a new brand of sports and leisure footwear as well as clothing under the Air Wair brand.