Heathrow Express, the rail service that runs between Paddington and
Heathrow, is reviewing its advertising and direct marketing agency
requirements.
Black Cat, the below-the-line agency owned by J. Walter Thompson,
currently handles advertising and direct marketing activity for the
service. However, the carrier has told other agencies that it is to
review the business.
A brief, through the Official Journal of the European Community, is
expected to be issued in the next fortnight. Heathrow Express is owned
by BAA, and is required to put its tenders out publicly.
Heathrow Express spent less than £1 million on advertising in the
past year, but this followed a decision in 2000 to concentrate on
relationship marketing.
Black Cat has since created direct mail and advertising that has
targeted the corporate sector, including posters at Underground stations
and along key routes to the airport.
The launch of the Heathrow Express in 1999 was backed by creative work
from TBWA/London that was inspired by Andy Warhol paintings.
Creative work focused on the 15-minute journey time of the service with
the line: "Famous for 15 minutes."
A spokesman for Heathrow Express said: "There is a whole roster of
people we use and will continue to use and nothing is happening outside
a rolling programme of looking at what we do."
