Wimpey Homes, the UK’s largest house builder, has awarded its entire
pounds 4 million centralised account to Zenith Media after a competitive
pitch.
The business, which primarily focuses on regional press buying, was
previously split between Zenith, the Manchester-based agency, Stowe
Bowden Wilson, McCann-Erickson Central in Solihull, and the Morgan
Partnership in Scotland.
The creative work remains unchanged at Team Saatchi and the creative
arms of the former media incumbents.
Pitches took place during the first week of November and followed a
period of deliberation on the part of the client over whether to
centralise its media.
Although the bulk of the spend is in the regional press, Wimpey Homes is
now believed to be considering other media options in a bid to build on
its profile.
Graham Duff, the joint managing director of Zenith, confirmed the Wimpey
win, saying: ‘This is a terrific endorsement of our regional press
team,’ he said.
The win will be a boost for Zenith’s regional press buying department,
which was widely seen to have suffered a blow after the departure of
Zenith’s general manager and head of press, Roy Jeans, in June this
year.
Jeans left Zenith after eight years to join the regional sales house,
Amra, as its managing director.
A spokeswoman for Wimpey Homes also confirmed the win but refused to
comment in detail on future plans.
The win marks a burst of review activity and increased spend in the
house-building market.
Earlier this year, Bryant Homes awarded its account to TMD Carat and is
believed to have increased its adspend to pounds 5 million from around
pounds 3.7 million.
