OMD knocked off News International media shortlist

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 14-Nov-05, 11:00

LONDON - News International has eliminated OMD from its £30m media buying and planning pitch, leaving MindShare to challenge incumbent Carat in a two-way fight.

OMD, which could not be reached for comment, is without a newspaper client after losing the £10m Express Newspapers account to MindShare in January without a pitch.

The Express account was then shifted from MindShare to sister WPP agency MediaCom in September, leaving the former free to pitch for News International.

Carat has held the account for 10 years, but learned in June that it would have to re-pitch. This came soon after the client took its £20m creative account out of TBWA\London after 10 years, awarding it to Euro RSCG London following a pitch that also involved Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis.

The pitch is expected to be decided by the end of this month. It covers buying for titles including The Sun, the News Of The World and The Times.

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