Marketing director Katie Vanneck's departure from Telegraph Media Group has sparked a round of agency reviews at the publishing group, with the search account up for grabs.
Telegraph Media Group has asked incumbent Universal McCann, which holds the entire media account, to pitch against search specialist Propellernet. The two are set for a showdown this week.
Vanneck left the group two weeks ago to return to her former employer, Times Media, as marketing and sales director.
Her exit prompted an immediate review of the company's search account, although there is no suggestion that Telegraph Media Group plans to review other agency relationships.
Meanwhile, Sky has whittled down its list of search candidates, with an announcement expected this week. Diffiniti and The Search Works were rumoured to be the only two left in the running, but Sky confirmed that there are more agencies still involved, believed to be incumbent I-Level and Unique Digital. Some of the agencies see the account as a key battle between very different companies.
The Search Works, for example, is an independent, dedicated search provider, and Diffiniti is a digital media agency that belongs to Isobar, advertising giant Aegis Group's digital arm. I-Level and Unique are independent digital agencies.
I-Level has held Sky's entire digital media account for more than two years, during which time the broadcaster's digital media spend has exploded to reach an estimated £25m per annum. The agency that wins Sky's search account is expected to land a £5m chunk of that spend.
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