Energy group E.On is overhauling its European media agency relationships, handing the business to Mediaplus International following a multi-stage competitive pitch.
The partnership will start at the beginning of 2024 and covers media planning, strategy and buying across 10 countries: Germany, UK, Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.
The contract, which includes all media channels, runs over three years. The competitive pitch was handled through Ebiquity; Starcom was the incumbent.
Mediaplus International is a group of international independent media agencies, including Total Mediaplus in the UK, has been briefed to drive a behavioural-led media campaign to build awareness of the energy company’s commitment to smarter, sustainable, and personalised energy solutions that improve their customers’ lives.
The approach leverages social psychology and the “propinquity theory” – which observes that the greater the physical (or psychological) proximity between people, the greater the chance that they will form relationships.
Its “Community Ties” strategy builds on this theory of relationships and the use of media that is both emotionally and physically close to E.On’s audiences.
The company’s advertising and marketing business has been handled by a number of agencies, including House 337, Digitas, Rapp and Iris, although it is also establishing an in-house operation with Oliver.
E.On chief transformation and commercial planning officer Julian Lennertz said: “The entire pitch team around Mediaplus CEO Matthias Brüll did a great job at all levels in a very strong competitive field.
“We were particularly impressed that all of the agencies involved in the pitch understood the specific characteristics and challenges of the energy market very quickly. Hence, a big thank you to all agency teams for their excellent work.
“We are absolutely sure that with Mediaplus and our new creative agency we are ideally positioned for the transformation of the E.On brand that lies ahead of us, but we would also like to expressly thank Starcom for their trusting cooperation over the last year.”
Brüll added: “We are very pleased that with E.On we were able to convince an internationally positioned customer in an extremely transformative market. We are happy to accept the great strategic task and requirement for responsive action in media management. We look forward to making a valuable contribution to the development of E.On.”
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