Shell hands global strategic media buying duties to Havas

Oil and gas firm Shell has appointed Havas as its new global strategic media buying agency, according to the agency which confirmed the news when MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out. 

"At Havas, we are invested in supporting companies through their growth and transformation journeys," Havas told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. "We are pleased to have been appointed Shell’s global strategic media buying agency and look forward to working with the Shell team to ensure consumers are better informed about the range of energy solutions it is providing today and investing in for the future,” it said. 

Don't miss: Advertising Standards Authority takes down Shell ads over misleading claims

The win comes as Shell reportedly faces accusations that its advertising and public relations agencies are hindering climate action by exaggerating Shell's investments in clean energy technologies.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Shell to find out more.

The news comes shortly after Shell had some of its advertisements banned earlier in June this year after The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that it held misleading claims about how clean its energy production is. 

The affected ads included a poster, a television ad and a YouTube ad. The poster, which was seen in Bristol, read: "Bristol is ready for cleaner energy." It then went on to say, "In the Southwest 78,000 homes use 100% renewable electricity from Shell Energy” above smaller text that stated, “Shell Energy’s renewable electricity is supplied by the National Grid and certified by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin, matching electricity bought with the equivalent amount from 100% renewable sources”.

Shell UK responded by saying that its intent with the ads was to raise consumer awareness of, and increase demand for, the range of lower emissions energy products and services they offered, the availability of which was increasing through continued investment.

"They believed that the ads accurately represented those products and services and did not omit material information about their more environmentally detrimental energy products, such as petrol," wrote ASA. "Consumers would already be well-informed regarding that aspect of their operations and would primarily associate their brand with the sale of petrol."

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