Zavvi appoints The7Stars

by Kunal Dutta, Media Week 27-Aug-08, 07:30

LONDON - Zavvi, the high-street music retailer formerly known as Virgin Megastores, has appointed The7Stars to handle its estimated £10m media planning and buying account.

The appointment comes as Colin Mills, co-founder of The7Stars, has taken extended leave from the agency for personal reasons.

The agency was awarded the business following a closed pitch against MGM OMD. According to Nielsen, Zavvi spent £6.2m on media in the past year. The agency will handle all Zavvi's media planning and buying for its ad campaigns.

Confirming Mills' departure for an unspecified period of time, a spokesman at The7Stars declined to elaborate on the reasons for his leave of absence.

The agency's appointment to the music retail account comes almost a year since the formation of Zavvi, which was rebranded from Virgin Megastores after a management buyout. The chain of 125 stores was sold by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises last September.

Since then, the high-street retailer has been particularly successful, helped by its product variety and the surge in sales of video games and consoles. For the 2007 Christmas period, it posted an increase in like-for-like sales of 10.8% on the previous year.