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The Union has set up a direct marketing agency to work on the

launch of Greenfield, the new internet and telephone bank which the

Halifax plans to launch in the spring.

The Union won the pounds 15 million Greenfield business at the end of

last year (±±¾©Èü³µpk10, 3 December). The new direct marketing agency,

called OnlyU, will be run by Kai Ivalo, a former board account director

at WWAV Rapp Collins Scotland, who takes up the role of managing

director.

Ivalo said: ’Having a client like Greenfield together with the support

of The Union is a fantastic way to start the business. I am looking

forward to developing a distinctive direct marketing agency. As well as

the traditional direct marketing route, we intend to focus our core

skills on new media and the opportunities for dotcom companies.’

Ivalo joins OnlyU after nearly five years at WWAV, where his accounts

included Bass Brewers, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Friendly

Assurance, Sunday Herald and Highland Distillers. Before moving to WWAV,

Ivalo was an account handler at Barraclough Hall Woolston Gray and Aspen

Direct.

Ian McAteer, the managing director of The Union and chairman of OnlyU,

said: ’The Union has always held a strong belief that integrated

marketing is the way forward. But through launching OnlyU, we believe we

will be able to offer clients a new level of expertise and creativity in

the direct marketing sector.’

The Union has also won a pitch for the pounds 1.5 million Miller Homes

account, which spans Scotland and the north of England.