- Legal & General has ended its search for a direct marketing provider by splitting its £12 million business between Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel and CMB.
The two agencies emerged triumphant after a five-way pitch which also included Rapier, DP&A and OgilvyOne.
The review was kicked off in February and as a result, the incumbent agency of three years' standing, Evans Hunt Scott, resigned the business, refusing to repitch.
Legal & General's business now falls under three separate banners. The investments side is handled by WWAV Rapp Collins, whose relationship with L&G -- which also includes the media planning and buying -- was unaffected by the recent review. CMB is part-owned by WWAV.
The remainder, which is largely built up of insurance products, has been split down the middle -- a change from when EHS handled the entire business.
It is thought that Craik Jones will handle the general insurance business, centering on the home and household areas, thought to be worth in the region of £7 million. CMB will handle the term assurance strand, worth around £5 million. Neither David Watson, the Craik Jones managing director, nor Jonathan Clark, the managing director of CMB, would comment on the appointment.
The term assurance advertising will largely centre around national press work, and the general business will use national press and additionally direct mail and door-drops.
Legal & General has been growing the direct selling side of the business since the area launched three years ago. It now accounts for around 10 per cent of its total business, though it has not spun it off into a separate area.
In tandem with the new direct selling area, Legal & General has been concentrating more and more of its marketing spend on below-the-line activity, which was underlined when WWAV won the media business.
Legal & General's advertising agency of record, J. Walter Thompson, was also unaffected by the review, but the vast majority of the client's budget is spent below the line.
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