Kingfisher Hires Dentsu X for Media Planning & Buying

According to CampaignLive.co.uk, Kingfisher PLC has hired Dentsu UK&I media agency Dentsu X to handle media planning and buying for its UK DIY brands, following a competitive pitch that began last June.

The brief covers offline media planning and buying for the retailers B&Q and Screwfix, expanding on a relationship with Dentsu-owned Merkle, which manages digital strategy and activation.

WPP's Wavemaker was the incumbent in several countries, including the UK. The agency will continue working with Screwfix until it transitions this account in the summer.

The European review also saw Publicis awarded Kingfisher’s European brands Castorama, Brico Dépôt, TradePoint and Koçtaş, but the lion's share of its media spend occurs in the UK.

Overall billings for the brands in the UK are estimated to be north of £80m, according to Nielsen figures and industry sources.

Kingfisher employs 80,000 people in 1,400 stores across the UK, France, Poland and Romania. In its most recent fiscal year (12 months to 31 January 2021), the London Stock Exchange-listed company reported sales growth of 7.2% to £12.3bn.

“Together, Kingfisher’s retail banners have scale, strength and expertise. We were looking for media planning and buying partners that recognise our collective strength as well as the unique needs of each of our banners,” B&Q customer and digital director Paddy Earnshaw said.

“B&Q was impressed by the fresh thinking and strong digital capabilities that Denstu X offers and we look forward to working with an integrated team to deliver impactful results driving business growth.”

Nick Sperrin, the chief client officer of Dentsu UK&I, added: “At Dentsu our ambition is to always bring the best people to the table to meet our client’s marketing needs. We love that we have been able to extend our existing relationship with Kingfisher into Media where we can now bring to life truly integrated communication solutions that will grow their business.”

The win is welcome news for Dentsu X, which had a relatively quiet 2021 on the new business front, picking up DAZN and Yango, and retaining Very.co.uk and the BBC. The agency lost several smaller accounts, such as Enterprise, a social and content brief for The Co-Op and Lululemon.

Dentsu said that Merkle’s insights will inform Dentsu X’s media activation “via one seamless Dentsu team set up to deliver world class in-the-moment activation”.

Screwfix customer and digital director Simon Jackson said the business was “delighted to extend and strengthen the partnership”.

He added: “We are excited to build on our existing partnership with Merkle to deliver integrated, through-the-line media effectiveness across all our channels”.

Source: Insight & Campaignlive.co.uk

For all the very latest news and intelligence on the UK's largest home improvement and garden retailers, sign up for the Insight DIY weekly newsletter.