Four make shortlist for Royal Mail brief

Royal Mail is understood to have shortlisted four agencies to pitch for its GBP25m media planning and buying account. They are incumbent Carat, plus OMD UK, PHD and MediaCom.
Starcom was involved in the early stages but is not going through to the next round.
An appointment is set to be made at the end of March, when Carat’s contract expires.
No one from Royal Mail was available for comment at the time of writing.
In its invitation to tender document, the Royal Mail stated that the four-year contract was worth between GBP75m and GBP100m.
Up to two agencies will be appointed to the planning and buying account, which is divided into media planning and buying, including pre and post-campaign analysis, and communications planning for disciplines such as direct marketing and sales promotion. Both are currently handled by Carat and the latter is worth between GBP1m and GBP1.25m a year.

Carat has handled the account since 1997.