Arena BLM secures £3m Westfield deal

by Isabella Piasecka, Media Week 05-Feb-08, 10:25

LONDON - Arena BLM has won the £3m media planning and buying account for Westfield London, the outfit behind the £1.6bn shopping centre due to open in West London this year.

Westfield approached agencies in December last year with an estimated £3m brief to promote the new development at White City, as exclusively revealed by Media Week (11 December, page 6).

It is understood to have shortlisted two agencies in January – Arena BLM and Universal McCann. The pitch process was handled by pitch consultancy the AAR.

At 150,000 square metres, Westfield London will be the biggest shopping centre in Greater London, rivalling retail districts such as Oxford Street and Covent Garden.

The centre will include four main stores, around 265 speciality shops, restaurants, a cinema, a health and beauty retreat, and a gym.

According to a Westfield spokesman, the new centre has a catchment area of 2.7 million people, with an estimated combined retail spend of £5bn.

The development is part of a major drive to regenerate the area.

This latest win for Arena BLM is its first after BLM, formerly independent, was bought by French advertising group Havas in January for a reported £20m.

BLM merged with five-year-old Havas network Arena Media Communications to become Arena BLM, which operates as a separate business to Havas’ Media Planning Group agency. Arena BLM declined to comment.

The company cited declining client demand for independent agencies as a key driver in the takeover by the French advertising group.

In December, BLM picked up the £6.2m media planning and buying account for high-street optician Dollond & Aitchison, previously handled by Publicis agency Starcom.

It won the business after a three-way pitch against the incumbent MPG.

Westfield London is part of Westfield, the world’s largest retail property group, with a portfolio of 119 shopping centres in Australia, the US, New Zealand and the UK.