In June, Yahoo! was reported to be reviewing its £70m global advertising account, having worked with the Euro RSCG Worldwide network on a project basis since May 2002.
However, it recently hired a new chief global marketing officer, Cammie Dunaway, who joined from the snack food company Frito-Lay.
In a statement about the appointment of Soho Square, Yahoo said it would be provided with "extensive resources from the more than 90 businesses" coming from WPP's global group.
Soho Square is headed by Elizabeth Talerman, a former brand account director working on IBM at OgilvyOne. The agencies supporting Soho Square have not been named, but it has been set up to handle cross-disciplinary work and has been charged with looking after Yahoo!'s strategic planning, integrated online and offline advertising campaigns and media planning and buying in the US.
In the UK, HHCL/Red Cell, which is also part of the WPP Group, holds the account for Yahoo!, although the company has also used agencies from the Euro RSCG network to create work.
Dunaway said: "Yahoo!'s business has grown and evolved significantly in the past several years and, similarly, the needs of Yahoo!'s brand have changed as well. Yahoo!'s brand position and the key attributes that drive the brand -- innovative, fun and trustworthy -- remain steadfast and constitute a strong base of core assets on which to build."
Black Rocket had handled Yahoo!'s advertising since 1996, when the company was a fledgling in the San Francisco internet market. Dunaway said Black Rocket had played a "principal role" in shaping the Yahoo! brand.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
