Merseytravel has ended its long search for marketing agencies, first reported by The Drum last summer, with the appointments of Manchester-based Vivid and Liverpool's Kenyon Fraser.

The tender, split into two lots, went out in July. Vivid's contract, carrying a budget of between £900,000 and £1.1m, is to work on visitor attraction and tourism marketing.

Kenyon Fraser will handle travel marketing, with its overall budget determined as between £500,000 and £700,000 in the original tender.

It will be Vivid's job to develop a range of new marketing initiatives for the organisation's portfolio of attractions, which includes the Mersey Ferries brand.

Kenyon Fraser's brief is to increase the visibility and awareness of the organisation's travel products and services.