±±¾©Èü³µpk10

Europcar Interrent has given the Bates network the task of raising

its profile in the increasingly cut-throat car rental market across

Europe.

The company is reported to be backing its initiative with a spend of

between pounds 8 and pounds 10 million, of which about pounds 1.5

million is for the UK budget.

Bates won the business in a final battle with FCB after Young & Rubicam,

Publicis and McCann-Erickson, the incumbent of eight years, had been

eliminated.

Dominick Lynch-Robinson, one of the more senior creatives at Bates

Dorland in London, will be European creative director on the business,

although creative work will be produced in Hamburg by the Bates

subsidiary, Scholz and Friends.

John Stubbings, the Dorlands chief executive, said: ’Europcar doesn’t

have a very strong image in the UK, but it does have a potentially

strong brand franchise. The company has some innovative new products

coming up in a market where there isn’t a lot of innovation.’

The Bates agency in France, where Europcar is based, will co-ordinate

the advertising, which will begin next February in the UK, France,

Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Media buying will be

handled by Zenith.

Some of the budget will go on TV, although the bulk is likely to go into

outdoor, particularly airport sites.

Bates takes on the business at a time when Europe’s major car rental

players, including Europcar, Hertz and Avis, are falling prey to

smaller, newer competitors.