Guitar Center has completed its media review, selecting two new agencies to handle planning and buying duties in traditional media and online media, respectively, according to sources.
Independent Ocean Media in Huntington Beach, Calif., will handle traditional media efforts for Guitar Center and its subsidiaries, including Musician’s Friend, Music123, Music & Arts and Woodwind & Brasswind, sources said. The new shop for online media—as well as search engine marketing—across the brands is said to be independent Camelot Media in Dallas.
Major media spending on the brands is estimated at $40 million.
Guitar Center, with an online presence and more than 200 stores in the U.S., bills itself as the leading domestic retailer of musical instruments and gear. The company is based in Westlake Village, Calif.
Ark Advisors in New York managed the review, which began in December. Ark did not return calls and the client could not be reached, but sources said that review contenders had been notified of the outcome.
Sources identified two other finalists for the traditional media piece—independent KSL in Encino, Calif., and Publicis Groupe’s Zenith Media in Los Angeles. There were three other finalists for the online business: independent Range Online Media in Fort Worth, Publicis Groupe’s Performics in Chicago and independent Efficient Frontier in Sunnyvale, Calif.
KSL was the incumbent on the traditional account, at least for the core brand. The previous online media agency was The Rimm-Kaufman Group, an independent in Charlottesville, Va.
