Irish fashion retailer Primark has appointed SocialChain to oversee its global social media business at the conclusion of a competitive pitch process.

Owned by Brave Bison, SocialChain secured the Primark account in a two-way shoot-out with Dept. and will begin working with the retailer on 1 July. The incumbent agency had been Born Social, which repitched for the account unsuccessfully

Primark originally initiated the review last year, but paused it after details were leaked to the press. The review restarted in February.

“We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together over the past five years. We’ve worked alongside Primark to embed the brand into culture, winning social share of voice and building a community of over 15 million followers,” said Ben Tyson, CEO of Born Social.

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“We’ve produced content that has had people running to Primark stores and have been part of establishing Primark truly as a social-first brand.”

SocialChain will now be tasked with devising Primark’s global social media strategy, community management and reactive content creation, in a bid to help amplify its digital presence and connect with wider audiences.

Kate Maunders, head of marketing comms at Primark, added: “We’ve worked hard over the past few years to really carve out a place in culture across our social media channels.

“We have the most amazing community of loyal fans online and we can’t wait to turn up the dial on how we speak to and engage with that community.”