Kinetic wins Apple job from Posterscope

by Sarah Crawley-Boevey , Media Week 29-Jan-08, 11:20

LONDON - Apple is preparing to move its outdoor planning and buying business, worth £3.6m in 2007, according to Nielsen Media Research, from Posterscope to rival agency Kinetic following a review last month.

Kinetic is working on a test brief for Apple to assess the two companies’ working relationship, with a view to moving the brief permanently, but the loss will come as a blow to Posterscope, which has held the contract for the past 10 years.

The move to WPP-owned Kinetic, which is growing in dominance internationally, had been tipped by industry insiders who say the change is procurement-led and there is no other specific complaint about Posterscope’s long-running work for the brand.

Apple is a major supporter of outdoor advertising and recent high-profile launches such as the iPhone, iPod Nano and iPod Touch have relied heavily on the medium.
The computer manufacturer, whose advertising and media accounts are held by TBWA/London and Omnicom agency MGM-OMD respectively, is thought to have been one of Posterscope’s top-three spending clients. The review affected outdoor only.
Apple’s total media spend excluding online in 2007 was £23.4m.
Since the launch of the iPod in 2001, Apple has added a series of locations to its portfolio of high-street stores, including Reading, Brighton and Glasgow. Recently, the company has introduced its ad campaigns across the country rather than focusing on major cities and has significantly increased its ad spend on other media, most notably cinema.
Posterscope and Kinetic both declined to comment.