Hasta La Creative!

With most of the bigger media pitches now wrapped up (much to the satisfaction of Sir Martin Sorrell), you d have thought that agencies would be taking a breather for Easter. Sadly, none of it. MediaCom is among the agencies waiting eagerly for the outcome of the eBay EMEA contest with media spend tipped to top 100 million which should conclude this week. That would complete quite a week for WPP. Carat is the UK incumbent.
DFS has issued a brief for its direct marketing, data analytics and planning and content strategy accounts through AAR, with a shortlist currently being compiled. The retailer has used a number of agencies over the three disciplines on a project basis in recent years, but is now looking for a permanent relationship. A decision is expected at the end of June. The review does not affect the creative or media accounts, which are held by Krow and MediaCom respectively.
It appears that 2 Sisters Food Group , the latest advertiser to pitch its media account, has also become the latest advertiser to insist on extending its payment terms. It is believed to be demanding an eye-watering 104-day credit arrangement from those agencies prepared to pitch. The incumbent on the business, whose brands include Goodfella s and Fox s Biscuits, is MediaCom, which is not expected to repitch. Other agencies are also expressing dissatisfaction at the terms, so there could be a fairly thin pitchlist.