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Adidas is reviewing its pounds 10 million UK media account, 12

months after the Continental media business was realigned into the Carat

network.

The review will centre on the TV buying business, which is handled by

New PHD. Adidas’s strategic and implementational media planning and

non-TV media buying are handled by the sportswear company’s creative

agency, Leagas Delaney, and are not up for pitch.

The brand last year spent pounds 8 million in the UK, but according to

Jason Dawes, global head of media at Adidas, the TV buying business will

be worth around pounds 10 million next year. The pitch will be a

straightforward head-to-head between New PHD and Carat in the UK.

Pitches for the TV account will be held in early October and a final

decision is expected later that month, ready for the winning agency to

begin work on TV deals for 2000.

The UK review comes a year after Carat scooped Adidas’s pounds 50

million Continental European media account after a four-way pitch

against Optimedia, Initiative and MindShare. Dawes stressed, however,

that there is no agenda to move the UK account into Carat in a drive to

centralise the media business on a pan-European basis. ’We’re not under

any pressure to move into the Carat network across Europe,’ he said.

He added: ’New PHD has been doing a fantastic job but when we handed the

Continental business to Carat last year we promised the agency we would

give them the chance to show us what they could do in the UK.’

Leagas Delaney will continue with all its current media assignments and

will also be involved in the decision-making process on the TV buying

pitch, advising Adidas on the media review.

Adidas’s UK media spend is split between clothing, footwear and

accessories, with Prince Naseem Clothing and Predator Football Boots

among the biggest spending sub-brands.

The company recently launched a global branding campaign through the

agency, 180, designed to bring a more human feel to the brand’s

advertising.

The media schedule for the new campaign is heavily biased towards

television.