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Independent Awards Media Job to Walker

Posted on: Friday, 14 October 2005, 03:01 CDT

By Lee, Jeremy

Independent News & Media has handed the 3.6m media planning and buying account for The Independent and Independent on Sunday newspapers to Walker Media without a pitch.

The business moves from Media Planning Group, which picked up the account from Manning Gottlieb OMD in 2002. David Greene, circulation and marketing director of The Independent, made the appointment.

Walker Media has taken on the account after a dramatic two years in the newspaper group's history. In September 2003, The Independent became the first quality daily to adopt the compact format, prompting The Times and The Guardian to redesign. The Independent went fully compact in May 2004.

The format is judged to have been a success - according to figures published by the Newspaper Readership Survey last week, The Independent enjoyed a 2% rise in its readership over the past six months.

However, ABC figures for August showed that The Independent suffered its first month-on-month circulation fall for 15 months, dropping to 255,906 copies. The title could face further pressure following The Guardian's change of format.

The Independent's creative account, which is held by Walsh Trott Chick Smith, is not thought to be affected by the media appointment.

Earlier this month, Walker Media also picked up the 9m media planning and buying account for cereal brand Weetabix from media independent The Allmond Partnership (TAP).

The move, combined with its loss of the BT TV buying account to Starcom Mediavest, is believed to have led to the demise of TAP, which has announced that it will cease trading at the end of this year.

The Independent: fall in circulation to 255,906 In August ABCs

Copyright Haymarket Business Publications Ltd. Sep 28, 2005

Source: Marketing

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