Sanyo hands consumer electronics PR to Meridian

The UK arm of Japanese electronics giant Sanyo has handed its

pounds 150,000 annual consumer PR account to Meridian PR.

Meridian was appointed without a competitive pitch on the strength of

previous project work it had done.

The agency replaces Link PR whose managing director, Anna Broughton, was

previously publicity manager for Sanyo. Broughton still works as a

consultant for some Sanyo commercial products, but not on consumer

electronics.

The four-strong account team is jointly headed by the agency’s managing

director Lisa Daitz and account manager Susan Leigh. The team will

report to Sanyo’s general manager for marketing Peter Eldon and

communications manager Mark Ebsworth.

The win leaves Meridian as Sanyo’s only UK PR agency for consumer

electronics, although the firm’s commercial and other divisions use

other agencies for specific projects. Public affairs are handled by the

in-house communications team without a dedicated person or agency in

place. No financial PR agency is retained in the UK, since the company’s

Japanese parent is only listed in Tokyo.

Meridian’s remit will cover trade and consumer PR, internal

communications and product launches over the next year. Products

Meridian will work on include televisions, videos, stereos and digital

cameras, as well as household appliances such as microwave ovens and

vacuum cleaners.

The work will also include raising the profiles of Sanyo’s two UK

factory sites, at Lowestoft and Sunderland.