MindShare picks Initiative's Murphy for Boots task

MindShare has poached Ita Murphy from Initiative Media to head its new pounds 60 million Boots account, which was won as part of a WPP realignment last week.

Murphy, who was a media director at Initiative, running the agency's Van den Bergh account, will join the agency at the end of the year. She will head a new team and report to Simon Rees, the managing director of MindShare UK.

Rees said: 'Ita is a very experienced senior planner, used to working on high-profile accounts. She has a unique style that allows her to gain a deep understanding of brands and apply that thinking to media strategy. I am sure she will make a strong contribution.'

Murphy joined Initiative in 1996. She was previously a board director at DMB&B/The Media Centre, which she joined in 1989. She was put on gardening leave by Initiative in August.

Murphy said: 'I'm attracted to MindShare by the quality and range of people who work for the company. MindShare has a unique offering of competitive buying, strategic thinking and specialists that cover all areas of communications. I expect that the company's new ways of working will provide a real challenge for me.'

Last week, MindShare won the Boots account from OMD UK, following Boots' decision to move its global marketing into WPP.

J. Walter Thompson won pounds 12 million worth of billings by taking the No.7 and Boots Opticians accounts from St Luke's and Grey Advertising respectively.

Media perspective, p22.

This article was first published on Campaign