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Revlon has centralised its worldwide media planning and buying

responsibilities into Young & Rubicam, supplying Mediapolis with a

possible pounds 4 million win in the UK.

The move is a shock to CIA Medianetwork, which was led to believe that

it had won the pan-European account in February, following a pitch last

December (±±¾©Èü³µpk10, 18 April). CIA already handled media planning and

buying for Revlon in France, while other European countries were

serviced by local shops.

But following internal reorganisation and international management

changes, a new pitch was called in the spring, this time seeking a

global agency.

CIA was not involved in the latest pitch.

After final pitches held in the US, Y&R won the business and will now

handle the account in all countries apart from the US, where Revlon

handles its media buying in-house. The pan-European billings add up to

pounds 15 million, with most of the spend going in the three major

markets - France, Germany and the UK.

Mark Finney, a board account director at CIA, said: ’We were told we had

won the pitch in February, but Revlon continued to use the Media

Business for most of its work in the UK, and we have only ever done

mini-projects for them. It was a false start from their point of

view.’

The Media Business has handled the UK account since 1994, when the

agency won the client from Y&R. Steve Allan, managing director of the

Media Business, said his relationship with the client was unchanged.

This latest realignment is part of a global reappraisal of Revlon’s

media strategy. The company holds about a quarter of the cosmetics

market worldwide, behind Procter & Gamble which acquired Max Factor five

years ago. Revlon’s creative work is done by its in-house agency, Tarlo,

based in New York.