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Woolworths has moved the media planning for its £18 million

above-the-line account out of its creative agency, Bates UK, and handed

it to Zenith Media, which runs buying on the business.

Since its demerger from its parent company, Kingfisher, last August,

Woolworths has consistently denied rumours that its creative account is

under review.

Last year Woolworths appointed Octavia Morley, the former managing

director for e-commerce at Asda, as its marketing director. Morley is

currently on maternity leave.

Zenith handled media buying for Woolworths' Christmas campaign,

featuring stars including Ant & Dec, S Club 7, the former EastEnder Sid

Owen and Des Lynam. It has worked on a retained basis for Woolworths

since 1995 when Kingfisher appointed it to work across its

businesses.

Woolworths' advertising activity at Christmas failed to help it

capitalise on the retail spending boom that led to good performances

from other retailers.

Sales at the Woolworths Mainchain stores fell by 3.5 per cent in the

nine weeks to 5 January compared with the previous year. However, across

the group, which includes Big W and the music and video chain MVC, sales

were up 1.1 per cent.

The retail group appointed a new group chief executive, Trevor

Bish-Jones, in January. He was previously the managing director of the

electrical retailer, Currys. At the time, Gerald Corbett, the chairman

of Woolworths Group, said: "The performance of the Mainchain shows how

much work there is to do to reinvigorate its position in the eye of the

consumer and improve retail disciplines."

Tim Greatrex, Zenith's managing director, was not available for comment

as ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 went to press.