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Epson’s pounds 30 million European advertising account is up for grabs

as the Japanese printer giant gears up for its first pan-European

creative review.

Epson currently uses a different agency for each country in Europe.

However, this way of dealing with marketing looks set to end, with

Epson’s senior manager for Europe, Hiromi Taba, putting agencies on

alert for an all-out pan-European pitch.

It is likely that three agencies will be chosen for the final review,

one from each of Epson’s key markets of Germany, France and Britain. In

the UK, its pounds 2 million business is split between two shops, with

product advertising handled by Dowell and Associates and Delaney

Fletcher Bozell running corporate advertising. Total Media handles all

UK media.

In France, BDDP handles the lion’s share of Epson’s advertising.

In addition, Bozell Worldwide runs some limited Europeanwide advertising

out of Amsterdam. Richard Hammond, Bozell’s senior vice-president for

international operations, declined to comment on the pitch.

Agencies have not yet been told whether they will take part in the

review. However, Epson’s Taba, who is based at the group’s European

headquarters in Amsterdam, is understood to be putting together an

international committee of marketers from the company to oversee the

review.

Epson’s move is part of a trend, kicked off by Sony, for Japanese

conglomerates to view parts of the world more regionally, rather than

country by country. The copier and camera group, Canon, instituted a

similar, if scaled down, move last month (±±¾©Èü³µpk10, 23 February).