• by David Kaplan , February 1, 2005

KSL Media has started off a cold year with a hot streak--the independent media shop has just announced winning the $30 million Western Union media buying; the $10 million media planning/buying for Turtle Wax; and the $15 million planning/buying account for Borders.

The reviews for those accounts occurred within the past two months, said David Sklaver, president of East Coast Operations, KSL Media.

While WPP Group's MindShare will still handle Western Union's planning, Sklaver--who came to KSL a year ago and had headed agencies like Wells, Rich, Greene (now defunct)--noted that there seemed to be a greater number of clients looking to mid-size media shops versus the larger holding company variety.

"For the company that spends under $50 million, they've experienced the fact that if they go to a media agency within a large holding company structure, they'll be handed to the interns and new graduates," he said. "Whereas there's now a realization that the smaller independents like ours can give their brands the attention they need, and at no expense of the clout that the larger companies have."

Turtle Wax was previously handled by rival independent shop Horizon Media, while Borders media was handled by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, although that agency still handles the creative portion.