Utility giant Scottish & Southern Electric has reportedly handed its direct marketing account to Proximity London following a protracted pitch against a number of agencies and a final shoot-out with Partners Andrews Aldridge.
The review, which kicked off in August last year, was handled by AAR and pitch specialist Tina Fegent. Rapp and MRM Meteorite were also involved at an earlier stage.
It is understood that most of the DM and CRM business was formerly handled in-house; Adam & Eve/DDB was recently appointed to the SSE ad account, while OMD UK runs the media.
SSE’s customer communications are under close scrutiny following last year’s record £10.5m fine for what watchdog Ofgem described as a “woeful catalogue of failures” across its telephone, in-store and doorstep selling activities.
It was the second time the company had been hauled up over misselling; in 2012 it was hit with a £1.25m fine following action from Trading Standards.
According to Ofgem, SSE provided “misleading and unsubstantiated statements” to potential customers about prices and savings that could be made by switching to SSE.
Ofgem said the level of the fine reflected the seriousness and the duration of the mis-selling, as well as the harm caused to customers and the likely gain to SSE.
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Proximity lands #directmarketing account for energy giant SSE http://t.co/BX3S9Lm0uT #directmarketing #telemarketing #advertising