The Open University has pooled the majority of its marketing business into Havas Group, handing its CRM account to Havas Helia following a competitive pitch.
The move sees sister agencies Havas London and Havas Media land the advertising and media accounts after a statutory review which kicked off in the summer.
Until now, the Open University has worked with MediaCom on media and Lida on strategy and creative, while Rapp has handled social media.
However, it is not known whether Havas will take over all activity; Rapp has worked on the account for over a decade and, at one time, ran both the media and CRM business. In the summer, it launched a series of online documentaries, The Open Diaries.
Claudia Church, head of brand and acquisition at the OU, said: “Following an extremely competitive pitch process, we’re really excited to be working with Havas Group to really build on the success of our marketing campaigns and help us to drive our brand forward.”
Established in 1969, the OU offers flexible, part-time study for students completing undergraduate and postgraduate courses. A total of 170,000 students study at the OU across Europe, with three quarters doing so part time while in employment. Since it was founded, more than 1.5 million students have studied its courses.
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