WPP's Mediaedge:cia wins £80m Lloyds media account

The appointment comes after a final head to head battle against Publicis Groupe’s ZenithOptimedia. Rival agencies OMD and Vizeum were knocked out at an earlier stage.

The decision ends a four month pitch process run by Joe Clift, brand and customer marketing director at Lloyds Banking, and brokered by consultancy startup MediaSense.

The financial giant was created last year following the merger of Lloyds TSB with HBOS. The review comes as the company looks to slash about 30% of spend off both accounts, according to an insider involved.

The Nielsen Company records Lloyds TSB spending £37m on media in the 12 months to 31 January 2009 and HBOS spending £40m on its brands Bank of Scotland, Birmingham Midshires, Halifax, Intelligent Finance and Insight Investment Management.

ZenithOptimedia had previously held the Lloyds TSB account, while Vizeum was the incumbent on the HBOS account.