As seen in Campaign Magazine.

Independent media agency Medialab has picked up the planning and buying account for Save the Children UK following a competitive review managed by The Aperto Partnership.

EssenceMediacom North was the incumbent on the account, having won it in 2019 following a five-month pitch process when the charity consolidated its accounts for the first time.

The agency declined to comment when approached by Campaign.

Sarah Potter, director of strategic planning, innovation and insight at Save the Children UK, said: “We met some fantastic people and saw some brilliant thinking from the agencies involved in this process and thank them all for their time and energy.

“Medialab stood out for their understanding of our challenges, and demonstrated how they will help us make a step change in our impact for children immediately and in the long term.

“We are very grateful for the The Aperto Partnership’s specialist expertise and guidance to get us a great result.”

Medialab now holds responsibility for communications planning, implementational planning and buying, multi-market coordination and measurement of the charity’s media spend across all media channels.

Activity will be planned, modelled and reported using Apollo, the agency’s proprietary marketing intelligence platform.

Medialab’s aim is to help “make a step change for effectiveness” in the charity’s media, creating both short and long-term impact for the children it protects.

Medialab managing director Alex Kirk said: “We are excited to be partnering Save the Children, an inspirational cause with a clear vision for how marketing can create the awareness and consideration needed to deliver vital fundraising income.

“We look forward to putting our collaborative, data-driven approach to media strategy and optimisation into action at a time when Save the Children’s role has greater significance than ever before.”

Save the Children UK’s latest campaign, “Our proudest moments are theirs”, was created by Don’t Panic.

The charity also ran a film last year marking the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, which was an animation made by Aardman.

Insurance company Standard Life is another recent win for Medialab, which took over the account from Omnicom’s Ptarmigan Media.