HPT Brand Response has won the advertising business for Bloomberg
without a pitch.
The win indicates 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 Bloomberg boost its European profile last year
(Campaign, 12 December 1997), but HPT will now take the lead on
marketing activities.
Bloomberg specialises in real-time financial news and data in
competition with the likes of Dow Jones. As well as the ’screens’ for
which the company became famous, Bloomberg owns television channels,
radio stations and magazines.
Although the company is US-based, its presence in Europe and the UK has
been growing over the past few years. 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 instant feel for the business.’
HPT is currently preparing its debut work for the company, although it
is not known when the work will break. Patten said: ’Bloomberg has
challenged us to think outside the box, be original, be distinctive and
produce something brilliant. No agency can ask for more from a
brief.’
Bloomberg was established in 1981 by Michael Bloomberg - who still runs
the operation - on the back of a dollars 10 million payoff from the
investment bank which formerly employed him.
