The appointment ends ITV's 10-year relationship with Starcom Motive, which resigned the account when ITV's new marketing director Clare Salmon called the review at the beginning of February.
Salmon is expected to increase ITV's media budget from £4m in 2004 to at least £8m in 2005. The broadcaster already has two digital channels to promote and has confirmed that it will launch ITV4 this year.
In addition to media planning and buying, ITV has asked MindShare to work on a viewer segmentation project and on the development of its framework for measuring return on investment.
According to ITV, MindShare's strategic expertise in the spectrum of communications disciplines clinched its selection. Salmon said: "It will be a critical part of helping us to put the viewer at the heart of our marketing strategy."
Kelly Clark, CEO of MindShare, said: "There's new momentum in ITV to put the viewer more firmly at the centre of its business model. We're really excited to be contributing to this, and we're proud to be helping an iconic British brand like ITV improve its marketing effectiveness."
ITV has also changed its creative arrangements after its ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty resigned at the beginning of March after three years. Now the media pitch is concluded, Salmon may turn her attention to finding a new lead creative agency, although she has already indicated that work could be shared among roster agencies in the medium term.
Starcom's resignation was the result of strain in its trading relationship with ITV, according to Jim Marshall, chairman of Starcom Group UK.
Speaking to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 in February, he said: "It's been a long relationship, which has had its ups and downs with management and ownership changes. Most recently, the relationship has been a bit fraught with the trading aspect. We can't let a tiny part of our business impact upon the rest of our clients."
At the start of 2004, Starcom and ITV were in dispute over the value of the Cadbury sponsorship of 'Coronation Street'. Starcom won the Cadbury account from Carat and attempted to renegotiate the £10m sponsorship deal, leading to an impasse. This was eventually resolved but it is understood that Starcom still felt uncomfortable at the potential conflict of interest inherent in being one of the biggest customers of one of its smallest clients.
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