The AA hands Carat its online account - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

The AA hands Carat its online account - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "The AA hands Carat its online account

by Andrew McCormick Media Week 08-Jan-08, 08:20

LONDON - Aegis agency Carat has picked up the AA's prized £22m online ad account from digital media agency I-Level without a pitch.


Carat, which has held the media account for the motoring giant’s sister company Saga since June 2005, is believed to have become the first major media player to benefit from the £6bn 2007 summer merger of the two companies."

The agency has landed the mainly search-based online account for the AA, which is believed to be one of the biggest investors in search marketing in the UK. The AA, which has 15 million members, has increased its digital ad spend in recent years over offline channels and upped its search marketing budget in particular.

In October 2007, the AA parted company with I-Level, which won the account in May 2005 when it was valued at around £5m. Omnicom agency PHD holds the AA’s offline media account, which is not thought to be impacted by Carat’s appointment.

A predicted pitch for the AA and Saga’s joint media account has not materialised, but Carat’s win marks the first movement of media agencies since the mammoth deal went through and the AA parted company with I-Level and creative digital agency Dare.

The AA’s online activity in the past 12 months includes sponsorship of MSN’s travel section, in which it built a website featuring fun motoring trips through a range of devices including podcasts.

Yahoo! has also benefited from a large amount of ad spend, including an AA question-and-answer service embedded in the portal.

The AA and Saga merger last summer created the 20th most valuable UK company, valued at £6.15bn. Private equity firms own 80% of the business, with the remaining 20% owned by the companies’ staff.
The two firms have since retained their identities, but have partnered on insurance and other financial products.