Sears Creative Consolidated

Sears, Roebuck And Co. is consolidating creative duties on its U.S. account at WPP’s Young & Rubicam here, according to the client. The Hoffman Estates, Ill., retailer had asked Y&R and its other incumbent, WPP sibling Ogilvy & Mather, for integration proposals, according to the retailer. The move is effective Oct. 1. Sears spent about $650 million on ads last year, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The business had been split between the two Chicago shops, with Y&R handling soft goods and Ogilvy working on hard goods. Sears recently cut its media outlay (more than $700 million in ’03, per Nielsen) and reduced the agencies’ fees. Earlier this year, Sears merged with Kmart to form Sears Holdings Corp. WPP’s Grey handles Kmart, which is not affected, the company said. Ogilvy began on the account in 1962; Y&R in 1993.