P&G awards £340m Gillette to Starcom

Procter & Gamble has appointed Starcom to handle Gillette's £340 million media buying business.

Starcom picked up the account from MindShare without a pitch, after
P&G's £32 billion acquisition of the shaving giant earlier in the
year.

However, media planning is expected to remain with its incumbent

agencies around the world in the short term.

P&G may now mirror this move by moving Gillette's creative from the
Omnicom-owned incumbent, BBDO.

Gillette spends £23 million in the UK annually, according to
Nielsen Media Research.

It was already expected that planning and buying would be moved out of
MindShare after the agency won the £700 million planning and
buying account for P&G's main competitor, Unilever.

The acquisition of Gillette brands such as Mach3, Duracell, Oral-B and
Braun will create the world's largest consumer goods company and because
of this, the deal was reliant on the US government giving regulatory
approval.

The Federal Trade Commission eventually agreed to the deal provided that
P&G sell Gillette's Right Guard deodorant and Rembrandt tooth-whitening
businesses.