Following the acquisition of Bates' parent, Cordiant, by WPP and the subsequent winding-up of Bates, its accounts are moving into other agencies. The B&Q creative account is moving from Bates to J. Walter Thompson.
However, B&Q has decided to change its strategy of combining its creative and media strategy account within the creative agency.
ZenithOptimedia has had a long relationship with B&Q's parent company, Kingfisher, but previously only handled buying for B&Q. However, ZenithOptimedia's strengthened planning resource and its plan to hire at least one key member of the B&Q planning team at Bates has helped it to win the business.
The agency also handles planning and buying for the former Kingfisher retail companies Superdrug, Woolworths and MVC. They were demerged from Kingfisher in 2001.
Antony Young, ZenithOptimedia's chief executive, said: "On the back of our P&G planning win earlier this year we are delighted to have cemented our relationship with another of the UK's major advertisers."
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