Videoportal.com, the satellite video service, has appointed Publicis as its first advertising agency without a pitch.

Publicis will help the company develop a corporate image and carve out market share.

The first part of the campaign will be a mixed media push including internet links to the company's services. Budget figures were not released.

Both VideoPortal.com and its main rival, Videoportal.it, were founded this year and have yet to start providing services.

Given the similarity of the names and services of the two companies - they use different technologies to deliver video-on-demand - advertising will be one of the only ways the rivals can differentiate themselves in the eyes of potential consumers.

Videoportal.it has yet to announce an agency appointment.