E.On starts hunt for digital agency

Energy giant E.On has kicked off a review of its digital marketing account, just weeks after agreeing to pay £12m in compensation to customers for breaking sales rules.
The digital account was originally handled by LBi, which first started working with the power company in 2010. Since then it has merged with Digitas to form DigitasLBi, although it has reportedly declined to repitch for the business.
Activity includes digital creative, user experience, mobile activity and brand communications.
It emerged earlier this week that customer complaints over an E.On instore campaign had led Tesco to ban energy firms from marketing their electricity and gas services in its stores.
The initiative, which ran in about 40 outlets, saw field marketing agents representing E.On offer Tesco customers a £10 Clubcard voucher if they agreed to ditch their current supplier and join E.On instead.
It is thought the agreement was part of a long-term partnership between E.On and Tesco, which allows E.On’s customers to pay their bills using Tesco Clubcard vouchers.
E.On’s direct marketing account – estimated to be worth £5m – is handled by Havas EHS, which has also run the Clubcard business since its launch in the mid-Nineties. EHS beat Proximity London to the consolidated E.On business in late 2011.
Earlier this month, E.On agreed to pay £12m in compensation to customers following an Ofgem’s investigation into dodgy sales practices. The regulator found that E.On had failed to properly train and monitor both its own staff and those it employed through third party call centres, leading to incorrect information being provided to customers on the doorstep and over the phone.