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Sensis to take media buying in-house after pitching account to agencies

Sensis CEO John Allan and Found boss Peter Barrie

Sensis CEO John Allan and Found boss Peter Barrie

Directories business Sensis has decided to take its media buying in-house following a strategic review and media pitch which saw four media agencies vie for the $10m media account, Mumbrella can reveal.

The media buying will now be done by newly launched digital agency Found, which was launched back in September under the guidance of former MediaCom Melbourne boss Peter Barrie who was charged with making the agency into a “complete end-to-end marketing solutions agency”, as Sensis looked to expand its business remit and better harness data.

In a statement to Mumbrella, CEO of Sensis John Allan said: “Following a strategic review of our media account, we have decided to take our media buy in-house.“As we went through the pitch process, it became clear that with our evolution from a traditional directories business to a digital marketing services company that we are best placed to meet our media buying needs.”

The move will now see Sensis, a media owner itself, negotiate with other media owners for the purchase of media.

It has been reported that the media pitch was being handled by TrinityP3 with it later emerging that the media pitch shortlist included Atomic 212, Initiative, Mediavest and Vizeum. All agencies approached declined to comment.

A spokesman for Sensis declined to comment on whether the agencies would be compensated for their time following the decision to move media in-house.

Nic Christensen 

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