BBJ has secured the entire £75 million (about US$107
million) Peugeot-Citroen UK media account in a move that seems likely to
break open current client conflict practice in the industry.
The holding of both halves of the PSA business in BBJ, which reverses a
strategy to split the account with Carat, appears to leave BBJ's sister
agency free to handle the £360 million European Renault account
that it scooped last month.
With Carat already handling BMW in Europe, the group as a whole now
holds an unprecedented three major auto accounts.
Rumours had circulated that Peugeot-Citroen was reopening discussions
with incumbent Initiative as well as with Media Planning, Optimedia and
OMD following the news that Carat had won the Renault business.
However, sources indicated that the consent of Renault was the main
stumbling block to a deal keeping all three auto businesses within the
group.
The move of both halves of PSA into BBJ would seem to indicate that such
consent has since been given.
The immediate consequences of the deal are expected to include the
long-awaited merger between Initiative and Western, which handles
Vauxhall.
