McCann Worldgroup Wins AOL Assignment

McCann Worldgroup has won a project from AOL although it’s unclear how the business will be managed to avoid conflict issues with Microsoft at twofifteenmccann, sources said.

“It’s a hot potato at the moment,” said one source. “Can they take it? Where should they put it? Is it going to create a problem?”

The Interpublic shop bested two other undisclosed agencies to land the digital CRM assignment, which could lead to an expanded role on the brand. Worldgroup chief Nick Brien [1] led the AOL effort.

Some sources speculate that Brien is working on a way to handle the assignment within Worldgroup or IPG to avoid any Microsoft conflicts. Twofifteenmccann’s Microsoft Xbox advertising [2] is some of McCann’s most high-profile and award-winning work. The San Francisco-based offshoot agency is the global creative lead on Xbox and works in partnership with McCann Erickson’s international network.

McCann and twofifteenmccann did not return calls for comment; AOL reps also did not respond to Adweek's calls.

In 2011, AOL spent just over $2 million on measured media, according to Nielsen. That amount does not include digital marketing or b-to-b advertising. In recent years, AOL has worked with a number of agencies on a project basis.