Gala Coral Group to consolidate advertising roster
Gala Coral Group is set to review its £8million advertising roster as it looks to consolidate the account into one agency.
The group is also reviewing its media account, which is currently handled by MediaVest Manchester and is understood to now be reviewing its creative, DM and digital accounts too.
Red Brick Road was appointed to the creative account in 2006 while its digital work is handled by Ruby. Tequila\London works on some of the below-the-line marketing, while Glasgow-based agency Frame has also worked with the group, creating its Gala Bingo ads.
In November 2006, Frame announced that Richard Sowerby, group sales and marketing director for Gala Coral's gaming company was named non-executive chairman of the agency.
Sowerby, along with John Kelly, led the MBO of Gala in 1997 and helped take the bingo company from a value of £235m to a gaming company worth in excess of £4 billion, offering bingo, casinos, online gaming and licensed betting offices.
Gary O’Donnell, commercial director at Frame, commented: “Like many businesses just now, Gala Coral Group is looking at its agency arrangements to find efficiencies so that’s what their review is about. We’re involved in the process and we’re hoping to continue our long association with them – we’ve worked with them for nearly 10 years.”
It is understood that the group has also centralised its marketing team in a cost saving exercise, putting 45 jobs at risk.