COI shortlists four agencies for £35m press account

by Sam Matthews, brandrepublic.com, Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 8:30am,

LONDON – Four agencies have made the shortlist for the Central Office of Information's £35m press buying account, including incumbent agency MediaCom.

Alongside MediaCom, which has held the business since 2000, the COI has shortlisted Starcom, Walker Media and Initiative to pitch in November. A result is expected later in the month.

Jeremy Found, COI head of media, said: "The standard of applications was very high and the four agencies were selected on the strength of their submissions."

COI's £2m cinema buying contract, currently handled by Universal McCann, is also under review.

In addition, COI is reviewing its strategic media planning roster. Incumbents include Naked, Starcom, PHD and The Ingram Partnership.

Earlier this year, Starcom Mediavest lost COI Communications' £70m television account to Carat but snatched the £20m radio buying account from incumbent OMD.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com