INTERNATIONAL: August.One lands Monster's account

The role includes an integrated campaign covering media relations, editorial work and stakeholder relations with key bodies, including government departments.

WS, which has held the brief for the past six months, stepped down because of a conflict of interest with its work for Monster parent TMP Worldwide, which spun-off its eResourcing and Executive Search business on 1 April, renaming the firms TMP/Hudson Highland Group.

August.One won the account in a competitive pitch, which involved five undisclosed agencies.

August.One MD Adrianne Kern said that Monster has announced a shift in focus from a mass-market approach to a targeted strategy on health, accounting and financial services, alongside the traditional recruitment sector.

While Monster will continue to work with the Hudson Highland Group, the split frees it to form alliances with other recruitment agencies as their online partner, which adds an extra dimension to the PR role.

Working on the account will be Kern as a senior consultant, Anthony Lowe as account director and Melanie Vines as account manager, with a team from the New Zealand office of August.One implementing the campaign in that market.

They report to Monster Australasia vice-president of product and marketing Diana Kahui.

August.One previously worked with Monster in the UK, taking over from WS in October, 2001 (PRWeek, 12 October 2001). The agency handled Monster's £120,000 B2B and consumer PR brief in the UK until a year ago, when the firm decided to roll the brief into WS's pan-European remit.