Initiative Media has secured a foothold on the Diageo roster by
picking up the IRpounds 15 million centralised media account in Ireland
in a move that catapults the agency to the top of the Irish media league
table.
The bulk of the business was previously handled by AIM/Carat, whose
London office won the centralised Diageo media business for England,
Scotland and Wales last year. AIM/Carat was the Irish incumbent on the
Guinness and Gilbey’s media accounts.
Initiative pitched for the account - Ireland’s biggest - against MCM,
AIM/Carat and Zenith Media, and was confirmed as the winner of the pitch
at the beginning of this week.
The centralisation encompasses all media planning and buying for Diageo
in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland across brands such as
Guinness, Baileys, Smirnoff vodka and Fitches soft drinks. Initiative
will work across TV, press, radio, cinema and electronic media for the
drinks group.
Diageo said that the decision to review the media business was a
recognition of ’the significant benefits in media value of a
well-managed, centralised communication process’. The company added that
it is ’placing a focus on costs, quality, service, innovation and
partnership’ in its new relationship with Initiative.
Initiative Ireland will officially take over the business from January
2000, and will tap into the management and research resource of the
Initiative London office, which also worked on the pitch. The roster of
creative agencies on the Irish Diageo business will not come under
scrutiny, the company insisted this week.
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