EBay kicks off £10m advertising review

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 11-Apr-07, 12:20

LONDON - EBay, the online auction business, has kicked off a review of its £10m above-the-line advertising account.

The online auction house has approached a number of independent and network shops in London as it looks to implement a change of direction in its creative strategy. Agencies have been briefed to develop the branded logo characters in eBay's current campaign.

Delaney Lund Knox Warren, which has held the account for the past three years, has declined to repitch.

However, it is understood eBay will use the current campaign going forward until a new agency is appointed.

Media planning and buying, which is held by PHD, is unaffected by the review.

DLKW was appointed in March 2004 as eBay's first above-the-line UK creative agency, beating Joshua, Oglivy & Mather and DFGW in a competitive pitch.

Two months later, PHD was appointed to handle eBay's media planning and buying, ahead of the company's first brand marketing campaign in the UK.

In September, Simon Darling, eBay's marketing director, left the company to run his own digital consultancy. Darling's responsibilities were distributed among the remaining marketing team members.

According to Nielsen Media Research, in the 12 months to February 28, eBay spent almost £10m on advertising, with just over £5m on TV and around £3m on press.

At the time of writing, eBay did not return calls.