14 August 2017
Following a two-round pitch process, UKTV has announced today a future-facing deal with Omnicom Media Group UK (OMG UK) which will see its media planning and buying account represented by a bespoke group of five companies, led by Rocket. The deal will start with an initial pilot period, which if successful will move into an ongoing relationship.
The eight-figure account was retained by Rocket, UKTV's incumbent agency of nine years, following the introduction of the new structure by OMG UK. The move marks the first time OMG UK has worked in this way, creating an agency solution crafted to fit with UKTV's new marketing structure, where media works seamlessly with the broadcaster's new in-house shop, UKTV Creative.
The new team brings together the very best of OMG UK's industry-leading specialists and tools to put data, effectiveness and innovation at the heart of what it will provide to UKTV. Rocket will lead the account, with additional resource provided by Annalect, OMG Programmatic, Fuse and Mobile5.
Zoë Clapp, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for UKTV said,
Over the last decade, our clever use of media has made a tremendous contribution to UKTV's success. The new structure that Rocket and OMG UK have created will help us continue that growth into the future, working together with the brilliant UKTV Creative team.
The tender was managed by UKTV's Director of Media, Alasdair Weddell, who worked with ISBA and marketing analytics specialist, Ebiquity, to ensure a fair and open pitch process.
Weddell added,
We set out a clear vision for our media strategy and Rocket transformed their approach to meet UKTV's new ambitions in this area. We are delighted to be renewing our agreement with Rocket and are looking forward to inspiring our audiences with exciting campaigns.
Mark Girling, CEO, Rocket said,
We are thrilled that UKTV has chosen to continue its partnership with us and are looking forward to working with them to build on the significant business success which they have achieved in recent years. The review has given us a great opportunity to assess how the needs of progressive clients such as UKTV have changed, and create an exciting new resource within OMG UK to deliver on those needs.
UKTV's successful partnership with Rocket has recently resulted in award recognition with a Highly Commended for the Digital Strategy of the Year at the 2017 Drum Marketing Awards, and a Silver in the inaugural Campaign Creative Tech Awards.
The news follows April's announcement by UKTV that the award-winning broadcaster achieved record revenue, profit and programme investment in 2016. And UKTV's growth trajectory continues in 2017 with the expansion of UKTV's creative facilities into a full service Creative Shop, plus increased investment in original programming, attracting stellar talent such as Davina McCall, Sir David Attenborough, Dara O Briain, John Bishop, Dave Gorman, Greg Davies, Alex Horne, and Alex Jones.
For more information, contact:
Ali Laurie, Network Communications Executive, UKTV
Ciara Battigan, New Business and Marketing Director, Rocket, ciara.battigan@rocketnetwork.co.uk
About UKTV
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching over 41m viewers every month.
The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £344.8m and EBITDA of £91.3m. It invested £151.2m in programming and related launches last year, and is a significant investor in British creativity.
The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.
Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.
corporate.uktv.co.uk / press.uktv.co.uk / @uktvpress
About Rocket
Founded in 1997 Rocket offers communications strategy development, media planning and buying, alongside a range of specialist services. Comprising of a 75 strong team of curious, agile and future facing people. Rocket is an agile, award-winning media agency that prides itself on Knowing More - about clients' brands, customers and how they consume media. Rocket is part of the PHD group and Omnicom Media Group network. To know more go to www.rocketnetwork.co.uk
About Omnicom Media Group UK:
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is the media division of Omnicom Group Inc. Its businesses include leading media service companies OMD Worldwide, PHD Network and Hearts & Science. In the UK, Omnicom Media Group UK exists to fuel excellence across its 5 UK agencies - OMD UK, Manning Gottlieb OMD, PHD, Rocket and Hearts & Science and also across its range of Specialist Services such as OMG Programmatic, Annalect, Affiliates, Benchmarketing, Fuse, Drum, Mobile5, OMG Ethnic and Barter.
Omnicom Media Group's UK agencies have won the Gunn Report for Creativity for 10 years running, are the current holders of the Festival of Media's Network of the Year, and won the Grand Prix at Thinkbox 2015, Clear Channel 2015 and Media Week 2015.