Walker Media beats three to £5m Center Parcs business

By Maisie McCabe, campaignlive.co.uk, Thursday, 11 October 2012 10:45AM

Center Parcs, the UK holiday park operator, has appointed Walker Media to its estimated £5 million integrated media planning and buying business after a four-way pitch.

Center Parcs: Walker Media defeated Vizeum in a shoot-out

Walker Media beat Vizeum in a final shoot-out. MPG Media Contacts and M/SIX were knocked out earlier in the process, which was handled by Ebiquity.

The appointment ends Center Parcs' seven-year relationship with MediaCom, the incumbent on the offline planning and buying account, and five-year partnership with Golley Slater, which worked on its digital activity.

Last month, Center Parcs handed a brand repositioning brief to 18 Feet & Rising ahead of the launch of an ad campaign next year. The brand had previously worked with Beattie McGuinness Bungay.

Center Parcs has four sites in the UK (in Cumbria, Nottinghamshire, Wiltshire and Suffolk) and will open its fifth "village" in Woburn Forest, Bedfordshire, in spring 2013.

Colin Whaley, the sales and marketing director at Center Parcs, said: "Walker Media understood our objectives and demonstrated the best strategic thinking and value in the pitch. We were impressed by their holistic approach to response and integrated vision regarding screen media."

Walker Media restructured at the beginning of the year and integrated its digital display and TV teams under the head of screen, Clive Record.

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk