Sky ditches Wieden & Kennedy in favour of BMB

by Ben Carter, Marketing 09-Nov-05

BSkyB has dropped Wieden & Kennedy from its advertising roster and appointed Beattie McGuinness Bungay to handle the £8m advertising account for its flagship channel, Sky One.

According to insiders, Sky and Wieden & Kennedy parted company after
just eight months due to disagreements over the creative direction taken
on some ads. Sky declined to comment on the move.

BMB partner Trevor Beattie worked with Sky Networks managing director

Dawn Airey on the relaunch of Five when Airey was its chief
executive.

BMB's arrival will increase the pressure on HHCL United, which holds
Sky's £60m brand business, as there has been speculation of a full
ad review.

BMB handles the creative and strategic business for Sky News, which
relaunched last month. It is expected to begin work on Sky One
immediately. Sky has traditionally concentrated marketing spend on Sky
One, but it may shift some to Sky Two and Three.

Last week, Sky revealed that it has 7.8m subscribers, an increase of
57,000 in the three months to the end of September.