The news is a blow to Element Communications, WCRS's joint venture with Naked Communications, which was set up last December to service the BMW planning account.
Media buying for BMW will remain with Vizeum after the agency won a buying pitch against ZenithOptimedia and Starcom. The agency has held the account since 2000.
Zed Media has retained online planning and buying after a pitch against agencies including Aegis' Diffiniti. The pitches were run through the AAR.
PHD will handle planning for the BMW range, while its sister agency Rocket will work on the Mini range.
The pitches were called in June, when BMW said it was beginning the process to fit in with its "international audit requirements".
Despite the loss, Stephen Woodford, the chief executive of WCRS Group, said: "Element's proposition seems to be increasingly attractive to our clients so we see a bright future for the company."
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
