Savills-backed online firm YOPA hunting for advertising agency

YOPA, the online agency which recently won financial backing from high end consultancy Savills, is on the look out for an advertising agency ahead of an autumn ad campaign. 

The advertising industry publication Campaign says YOPA has appointed The Oystercatchers marketing consultancy to find an agency.

YOPA was founded by chief executive Daniel Attia in 2014 and is backed by Andrew and Alistair Barclay, the grandson and son of The Daily Telegraph co-owner Sir David Barclay. 

Last month Savills revealed it had invested an undisclosed sum in the agency through its proprietary arm, Grosvenor Hill Ventures; this was part of a funding round by YOPA which raised a total of £16m, some of which will underwrite the ad campaign.

Savills’ chairman Jeremy Helsby has made it clear that YOPA not only gives his firm some experience to the growing online/hybrid agency market, but also exposure for the first time to the miliion or so sales which occur annually in the mainstream housing market.

“The sale of homes will move more and more online” Helsby said recently, adding in relation to the fixed-fee business model: “If you have a £150,000 home that is pretty attractive. People don’t like paying estate agents and they can sell their homes much, much more cheaply online. I don’t think pure online will work but the hybrid [model] will.” 

Campaign says YOPA hired Contagious London, an advertising agency, to handle its creative business in April of last year; Contagious went on to create the "New Kid On The Block" TV advertising explaining that the agency could sell a home for a £780 fee.