Coming off a worldwide pandemic, entrepreneurs had been on the hunt for brand new company partnerships as they seemed to reach a modified world.
Many entrepreneurs overview their company partnerships as a matter of apply each few years. But in 2021, the tempo and measurement of account reviews, significantly within the media house, had been notable.
A serious theme amongst this 12 months’s overview was massive world manufacturers trying to minimize the bloat and simplify unruly company rosters by consolidating their enterprise throughout a single companion. Other reviews took a extra regional strategy with large impacts for the market.
Campaign US was there masking all of it. Check out some of probably the most vital reviews we lined in 2021 — and let the 2022 pitch season begin!
1. Nike set to kick off $1 billion world media overview
Just final week, Campaign US broke the information that Nike is getting ready to kick off its largest media overview in practically 20 years. The sneaker model is placing the Nike and Jordan manufacturers up for overview in an effort to consolidate its roster and shift the main target towards efficiency advertising and marketing. Combined, a roughly $1 billion media finances is up for grabs.
Until now, Nike has labored with varied companies throughout the globe. WPP’s Mindshare has probably the most to lose because it reps the model in worldwide markets; longtime inventive companion Wieden+Kennedy handles U.S. media. So far, all of the key holding firms are pitching. Nike has added a handful of digital companies to its roster that may very well be within the operating, too.
Watch this house: When the overview wraps this spring, it would possible be one of probably the most high-profile account strikes of early 2022.
When Coca-Cola kicked off a large overview of its $4 billion inventive and media account in late 2020, the business was buzzing with the potential implications for companies. Coca-Cola labored with hundreds of companies throughout its world roster, and the pitch was meant to spark “an entire redesign of our media and inventive company fashions,” in keeping with a spokesperson.
One 12 months later, WPP, which had held roughly 30% of the FMCG large’s enterprise, emerged victorious, strolling away with the lion’s share of the enterprise. For IPG, which additionally held 30%, the loss was a giant blow.
But there’s nonetheless an opportunity for excellent inventive companies outdoors of WPP to work with the model. Coca-Cola’s roster contains an “open-source” inventive mannequin that enables the corporate to faucet into completely different inventive companions (companies, people or freelancers) on an as-needed foundation.
3. Facebook proprietor Meta hires Spark Foundry as world media company
Another main media account to alter fingers this 12 months was Meta, the dad or mum firm of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. The firm introduced the overview of its $750 million media enterprise in March, placing seven-year incumbent Mindshare on an alert. Mindshare, for its half, declined to defend after receiving the RFP.
Publicis Groupe’s Spark Foundry walked away with the worldwide account, one other feather within the cap of the corporate’s “Power of One” technique. While Meta is a coveted account for any company based mostly on its sheer measurement, Spark Foundry must grapple with the reputational points surrounding its new flagship shopper whereas serving to the corporate double down on its metaverse positioning.
4. Publicis Groupe wins Walmart $600 million media account
Another massive win for Publicis Groupe, this time within the U.S., because the nation’s largest retailer awarded its $600 million media account to the holding firm. It was the biggest U.S. media pitch of the 12 months, and all of the key holding firms vied for a chunk of the enterprise.
Publicis has a longstanding inventive relationship with Walmart, and Mediavest (now Spark Foundry) held the media account previous to 2017, when Walmart moved its enterprise to WPP-owned Haworth. Now, the holding firm will possible be all fingers on deck serving to Walmart seize the big alternatives and complexities of e-commerce.
5. Home Depot faucets OMD for media, narrows inventive pitch after Richards Group fallout
In one other massive U.S. retailer pitch, Home Depot put its built-in inventive and media accounts up for overview in June 2020. By late January 2021, Home Depot parted methods with decade-long companion Carat in favor of a brand new relationship with Omnicom’s OMD. Four months later, in mid-April, Home Depot named Omnicom’s BBDO its inventive AOR, marking a giant win for the holding firm. The total prize was price roughly $1 billion.
Home Depot made headlines in October 2020 when it minimize ties with its longtime inventive companion The Richards Group after founder Stan Richards made racist feedback in a gathering about one other shopper. The dwelling enchancment retailer joined Motel 6, Keurig Dr Pepper and Chick-fil-A in ditching the company.
Omnicom has an fascinating remit in entrance of it throughout the board, as the brand new relationship spans digital and social inventive, manufacturing, comms planning, influencer advertising and marketing and Gen Z particular executions, and asks companies to make use of information and analytics to appreciate efficiencies.
6. Philips wraps world overview, picks Omnicom for inventive, media and comms
Philips was one other massive, built-in world pitch that kicked off in January, as main holding firms lined up for the $300 million prize. The consequence: a consolidation with Omnicom throughout media, inventive communications, and a goodbye to Dentsu’s Carat and WPP’s Ogilvy, which held the media and inventive accounts for 20 years and one decade, respectively.
At Omnicom, the spoils are divided as such: TBWA leads inventive, OMD handles media and FleishmanHillard and Ketchum run PR and communications. (For the latter two, the account was a retention). Omnicom will assist Philips refocus as a healthcare enterprise after promoting its home home equipment enterprise in March.
7. T-Mobile fingers its $2 billion US media account to Initiative
After merging with Sprint to change into the second-largest telco within the U.S., T-Mobile’s $2 billion media account turned one of the biggest prizes in adland when it kicked off a home overview in September 2020.
By the second week of January, T-Mobile was able to ring within the new 12 months with a brand new companion: IPG’s Initiative. It was a giant loss for Spark Foundry, which held T-Mobile’s roughly $700 million offline media account; Essence had T-Mobile’s roughly $200 million digital media account however was serving to the model transition it in-house.
As for Sprint, Horizon Media hung onto Sprint’s pay as you go cell service, Boost, which is price roughly $300 million; the telco dealt with the remainder of its $350 million search and efficiency finances in-house.
8. Eli Lilly strikes world media transient to Zenith after practically 20 years with OMD
A two-decade relationship between Eli Lilly and Omnicom’s OMD got here to an finish in November when the pharmaceutical large selected Zenith after a aggressive pitch that kicked off in May. Zenith and OMD competed head-to-head within the ultimate spherical, and WPP and Dentsu had been concerned in earlier levels of the overview.
Eli Lilly described the overview as a seek for a companion to assist with its “advertising and marketing transformation objectives” to “create outstanding experiences throughout the client journey, fueled by each human insights and information.” Zenith could have a giant finances to work with, because the healthcare large is trying to spend between $600 million and $800 million on media this 12 months.
9. Google consolidates world media account with WPP’s Essence with no pitch
Quietly and with no pitch, Google folded its total multi-billion greenback media account into longtime companion Essence in November. Google has labored with Essence on digital and programmatic shopping for for years, however Omnicom’s OMD and PHD dealt with offline planning and shopping for globally, possible price a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in billings.
The win isn’t only a testomony to Google and Essence’s relationship; it’s a proof level that Essence’s technique to increase into conventional and offline media shopping for has been profitable. The digital native company has been trying to develop right into a full-service media store for the previous few years to be stickier with bigger shoppers.
10. $3.3 billion Unilever media pitch wraps, WPP retains largest remit
CPG large Unilever awarded WPP’s Mindshare the bulk of its $3.3 billion media enterprise in a serious retention for the incumbent company. Mindshare retained most of the enterprise throughout Unilever’s high six markets (U.S., the U.Ok. and Ireland, India, Indonesia and China) and expanded into new markets to carry roughly 80% of the enterprise.
But different holding firms walked away with some of the prize. Omnicom’s PHD gained Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Canada from WPP, in addition to Africa, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Havas Media gained France and Spain, which WPP beforehand held. IPG’s Initiative retained Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Greece, and has enterprise in Latin America. Asatsu-DK has the enterprise in Japan.
It was the biggest open overview Unilever, which spends greater than $8 billion on advertising and marketing yearly, has held since 2015.
11. Publicis Groupe beats out WPP for Stellantis world media account
Stellantis kicked off a serious overview in March and Publicis Groupe walked away as the massive winner, consolidating all 14 of the auto large’s manufacturers within the U.S., Canada and Europe below its umbrella. The whole prize: practically $2.5 billion in media spend.
The overview kicked off after Fiat-Chrysler and PSA Group merged in 2020 to change into the world’s fourth-largest world automaker. The choice was a blow for WPP’s MediaCom, which was the incumbent on PSA Group’s $600 million chunk of the enterprise since 2017. Publicis was the incumbent for Fiat-Chrysler.
Stellantis manufacturers embody Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Lancia, Maserati, Citroën, DS, Opel, Peugeot and Vauxhall.
12. Omnicom baggage Chanel in world media pitch win
The largest luxurious overview of the 12 months ended with Chanel dropping WPP prefer it was out of fashion after practically 20 years to forge a brand new relationship with Omnicom. Chanel handles inventive in-house however has a roughly $1.7 billion finances for “model help actions.”
The relationship will kick off in January and PHD will deal with the account. The final time Chanel went into overview was 2013, and WPP gained the account with a bespoke unit referred to as Plus that drew on sources from Mindshare, Wavemaker, Ogilvy and AKQA. In 2022, Chanel will look to put money into know-how to take benefit of vogue’s shift to digital.
https://www.campaignasia.com/article/pitchapalooza-the-biggest-reviews-of-2021/474831
