Bloomberg to focus marketing below-the-line

- HPT Brand Response has scooped the advertising business for Bloomberg without a pitch.

The win shows a shift in focus for the market data company from above-the-line advertising to below-the-line work. CDP picked up the task of helping the Bloomberg boost its European profile last year, but HPT will now take the lead.

Bloomberg specialises in real-time financial news and data in competition with the likes of Dow Jones and Reuters. As well as the "screens" for which the company became famous, Bloomberg owns television channels, radio stations and magazines. Though the company is US-based, its presence in Europe and the UK has been growing over the past few years, and HPT's job will be to build on that growth

Tim Patten, a managing partner of HPT, explained: "Bloomberg has some great products, but not many people know about it. We will be raising awareness of what it can do, targeting media buyers and marketing directors as well as potential viewers of the television channel."

Anna Bateson, the head of marketing and communications at Bloomberg, added: "We are repositioning our marketing away from above-the-line work taking a more focused, below-the-line approach. HPT has the talents and experience to answer the particular needs we have at the moment, and showed an immediate feel for the business."

Bloomberg was established in 1981 by Michael Bloomberg -- who still runs the operation -- on the back of a $10 million payoff from the investment bank which formerly employed him.